Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 25, NWS La Crosse, WI

August 23, 1997Buffalo County, Wisconsin

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 23, 1997, 7:25 PM CDT for Buffalo County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 45 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 23, 1997, 7:25 PM CDT (00:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 23, 1997, 8:10 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Buffalo County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:27 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 23, 7:40 PM CDTHail 1.5Waumandee, WI
Aug 23, 8:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Fountain City, WI

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 23, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 155 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1997-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3368 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1997-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
3368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1119 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.0
Supercell composite
12.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KLSE 240025 RRA
TORLSE
WIC011-240110-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
725 PM CDT SAT AUG 23 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
    BUFFALO COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 810 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    MONDOVI
    WAUMANDEE

* AT 720 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR WAUMANDEE...ABOUT 45 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  LA CROSSE. THE STORM WAS MOVING MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. RADAR
  ALSO CONTINUED TO INDICATED ROTATION IN OTHER PARTS OF THE STORM.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR GILMANTON BY 740 PM...AND NEAR FOUNTAIN
  CITY BY 735 PM..

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN
THE LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.

RIECK/SWERMAN

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 23, 7:33 PM CDTTornado WarningARXLa Crosse32 min
Aug 23, 7:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXTrempealeau66 min
Aug 23, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXLa Crosse60 min
Aug 23, 8:06 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXLa Crosse, Trempealeau3 hr
Aug 23, 8:06 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXBuffalo3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.