Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Milwaukee, WI

April 5, 1997Dodge County, Racine County, Waukesha County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1997, 5:36 PM CST for Dodge County, Racine County, Waukesha County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 69 min. 3 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: Apr 5, 1997, 5:36 PM CST (23:36 UTC)
Expired: Apr 5, 1997, 6:45 PM CST
In force: 69 min
Issued by: NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area: Whole counties

Counties Dodge County, WI, Racine County, WI, Waukesha County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 24 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:40 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

Time	Report	Where
Apr 5, 6:02 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Waterford, WI
Apr 5, 6:13 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 51	Beaver Dam, WI
Apr 5, 6:15 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Mukwonago, 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 159 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 122 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.

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 052336 RRA
SVRMKE
WIC027-059-101-133-WIZ528-529-060045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
536 PM CST SAT APR 5 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  DODGE COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  KENOSHA COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
  RACINE COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
  WAUKESHA COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 645 PM CST
 
*

* AT 5:30 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ENTERING SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. THE LINE
OF STORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH AND HAS A HISTORY OF
PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS LINE OF STORMS. 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.

BROWNING/DAVIS

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

Local storm report, Apr 5, 5:21 PM CST, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN
521 PM CST SAT APR 5 1997

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0457 PM    NR BLANCHARDVILLE         WI   POSSIBLE TORNADO
04/05/97   LAFAYETTE

0457 PM    NR MONROE                 WI   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   GREEN                          TIRES AND WIRES DOWN

0507 PM    DARLINGTON                WI   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   LAFAYETTE                      SEVERAL ROOFS OFF HOMES
                                          POWER OUTAGES

0507 PM    NR GRATIOT                WI   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   LAFAYETTE                      ROOF AND POWER LINE DAMAGE
TZ

Local storm report, Apr 5, 5:22 PM CST, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN
521 PM CST SAT APR 5 1997

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0457 PM    NR BLANCHARDVILLE         WI   POSSIBLE TORNADO
04/05/97   LAFAYETTE

0457 PM    NR MONROE                 WI   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   GREEN                          TIRES AND WIRES DOWN

0507 PM    DARLINGTON                WI   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   LAFAYETTE                      SEVERAL ROOFS OFF HOMES
                                          POWER OUTAGES

0507 PM    NR GRATIOT                WI   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   LAFAYETTE                      ROOF AND POWER LINE DAMAGE
TZ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 5, 4:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Lafayette	53 min
Apr 5, 4:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green	66 min
Apr 5, 4:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dane, Iowa	77 min
Apr 5, 4:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Rock	77 min
Apr 5, 5:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Jefferson, Walworth	74 min
Apr 5, 5:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Sauk	74 min
Apr 5, 5:36 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Kenosha	69 min
Apr 5, 5:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington	63 min
Apr 5, 5:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green Lake, Marquette	63 min
Apr 5, 5:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac	63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1997 Every 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.