Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Milwaukee, WI

July 26, 1997Sauk County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 26, 1997, 3:50 PM CDT for Sauk County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 40 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
Jul 26, 1997, 3:50 PM CDT (20:50 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Sauk County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:52 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
Jul 26, 3:55 PM CDTThunderstorm WindLa Valle, WI
Jul 26, 4:15 PM CDTThunderstorm WindLake Delton, 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 189 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 1997-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-429 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
690 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 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 262051 RRA
SVRMKE
WIC111-262140-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
350 PM CDT SAT JUL 26 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SAUK COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  LA VALLE
  IRONTON
  REEDSBURG

* AT 340 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 56 MILES NORTHWEST OF MADISON...NEAR VALTON.
  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 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.

MK/TZ

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, Jul 26, 10:22 AM CDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
WIZALL-270000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1030 AM CDT SAT JUL 26 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR WISCONSIN...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF WISCONSIN THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL...STRONG
WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS WILL BE POSSIBLE.  THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER APPEARS TO BE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE.

THIS IS A PRELIMINARY ADVISORY...PLEASE LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND FORECASTS.

JOHNSTON
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 10:24 AM CDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before
WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-270315-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1024 AM CDT SAT JUL 26 1997

...MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT
...FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

THREAT...
DAMAGING WINDS TO 70 MPH AND LARGE HAIL.

DISCUSSION...
THE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN IS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE
WITH...WEAK BOUNDRIES WHICH MAY ACT AS A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP IN THE VERY
MOIST AND VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WOULD LIKELY PRODUCE
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED AFTER 2 PM THIS
AFTERNOON.

MK
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 10:25 AM CDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before
WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-270315-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1024 AM CDT SAT JUL 26 1997

...MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT
...FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

THREAT...
DAMAGING WINDS TO 70 MPH AND LARGE HAIL.

DISCUSSION...
THE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN IS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE
WITH...WEAK BOUNDRIES WHICH MAY ACT AS A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP IN THE VERY
MOIST AND VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WOULD LIKELY PRODUCE
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
STOBRM SPOTTER GROUPS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED AFTER 2 PM THIS
AFTERNOON.

MK
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 10:30 AM CDT, 5 hours 20 minutes before
WIZALL-270000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1030 AM CDT SAT JUL 26 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR WISCONSIN...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF WISCONSIN THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL...STRONG
WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS WILL BE POSSIBLE.  THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER APPEARS TO BE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE.

THIS IS A PRELIMINARY ADVISORY...PLEASE LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND FORECASTS.

JOHNSTON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 25, 7:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDane, Dodge, Jefferson54 min
Jul 25, 7:31 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXDane, Jefferson29 min
Jul 25, 8:01 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXDane, Jefferson34 min
Jul 25, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee, Sheboygan, Washington59 min
Jul 25, 8:28 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXDane, Jefferson32 min
Jul 25, 8:57 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXDane, Dodge, Jefferson63 min
Jul 25, 9:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMKXDane, Jefferson3 hr
Jul 25, 11:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee, Washington49 min
Jul 26, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXColumbia65 min
Jul 26, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDane, Jefferson57 min
Jul 26, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDodge57 min
Jul 26, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXJefferson, Waukesha63 min
Jul 26, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXWalworth55 min
Jul 26, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXKenosha, Racine64 min
Jul 26, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXMilwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington64 min

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.