Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Milwaukee, WI

May 5, 1997Milwaukee County, Racine County, Waukesha County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1997, 1:44 PM CDT for Milwaukee County, Racine County, Waukesha County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 66 min. 1 report 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
May 5, 1997, 1:44 PM CDT (18:44 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1997, 2:50 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Milwaukee County, WI, Racine County, WI, Waukesha County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:43 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
May 5, 2:15 PM CDTHail 1.75Sturtevant, 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 nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 173 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1997-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1997-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 183 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

227 
WUUS1 KMKE 051845 RRA
SVRMKE
WIC079-101-133-WIZ527>529-051950-

BULLETIN - IMMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
144 PM CDT MON MAY 5 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  MILWAUKEE COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
  RACINE COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
  SOUTHEASTERN WAUKESHA COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 250 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  MUKWONAGO               BY 143 PM CDT
  TICHIGAN                BY 154 PM CDT
  WAUBEESEE               BY 155 PM CDT
  BIG BEND                BY 155 PM CDT
  WATERFORD               BY 156 PM CDT
  ROCHESTER               BY 156 PM CDT

* AT 143 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER
  RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 32 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF  RACINE OR 4
  MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF  MUKWONAGO MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD MOVE
INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE
TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL
THE STORM HAS PASSED.
DAVIS/MEADE

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 5, 10:53 AM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-060155-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1053 AM CDT MON MAY 5 1997

...LOW RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THREAT...
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO REDEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN
AFTER 2 PM. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THIS
AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED AFTER 3PM
TODAY.

MK
Special weather statement, May 5, 10:54 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-060155-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1053 AM CDT MON MAY 5 1997

...LOW RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THREAT...
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO REDEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN
AFTER 2 PM. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THIS
AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED AFTER 3PM
TODAY.

MK

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.