Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 92, NWS Milwaukee, WI

August 4, 1997Columbia County, Dane County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 4, 1997, 1:13 PM CDT for Columbia County, Dane County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 47 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 4, 1997, 1:13 PM CDT (18:13 UTC)
Expired: Aug 4, 1997, 2:00 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area: Whole counties

Counties Columbia County, WI, Dane County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:16 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	Remark
Aug 4, 1:25 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Lodi, WI
Aug 4, 1:35 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56	Dane, 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, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 169 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: 436 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 595 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 041813 RRA
SVRMKE
WIC021-025-041900-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
113 PM CDT MON AUG 4 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN COLUMBIA COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  NORTHERN DANE COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 200 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  LODI
  DANE
  SPRINGFIELD CORNERS
  WAUNAKEE

* AT 111 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 30 MILES NORTH OF MADISON...NEAR BARABOO. THE
STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 25.

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.

PUMA/COLLAR

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, Aug 4, 9:44 AM CDT, 3 hours 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
944 AM CDT MON AUG 4 1997

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

0545 PM    ROCK SPRINGS              WI   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/03/97   SAUK                           60+ MPH WIND GUSTS
                                          FUNNEL CLOUD

GD

Local storm report, Aug 4, 9:46 AM CDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
944 AM CDT MON AUG 4 1997

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

0545 PM    ROCK SPRINGS              WI   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/03/97   SAUK                           60+ MPH WIND GUSTS
                                          FUNNEL CLOUD

GD

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 10:50 AM CDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-051200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1100 AM CDT MON AUG 4 1997

...NO RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...
    ...FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

DISCUSSION...
ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ALONG
A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGGING SOUTHWARD OVER EASTERN WISCONSIN...BUT
THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE.

STORM SPOTTER GROUPS WILL NOT BE NEEDED FOR ACTIVATION TODAY OR
TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN.

TH

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 11:00 AM CDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-051200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1100 AM CDT MON AUG 4 1997

...NO RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...
    ...FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

DISCUSSION...
ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ALONG
A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGGING SOUTHWARD OVER EASTERN WISCONSIN...BUT
THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE.

STORM SPOTTER GROUPS WILL NOT BE NEEDED FOR ACTIVATION TODAY OR
TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN.

TH

Local storm report, Aug 4, 12:57 PM CDT, 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1257 PM CDT MON AUG 4 1997

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

0800 PM    GREEN LAKE                WI   WIND DAMAGE
08/03/97   GREEN LAKE                     TREES STRUCK HOUSES
                                          HAIL DENTED CARS
                                          POWER LINES DOWN
                                          COUNTY WIDE

1015 PM    NORWAY                    WI   WIND DAMAGE
08/03/97   RACINE                         TREES DOWN ACROSS 7 MILE
                                          ROAD

GD

Local storm report, Aug 4, 1:05 PM CDT, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1257 PM CDT MON AUG 4 1997

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

0800 PM    GREEN LAKE                WI   WIND DAMAGE
08/03/97   GREEN LAKE                     TREES STRUCK HOUSES
                                          HAIL DENTED CARS
                                          POWER LINES DOWN
                                          COUNTY WIDE

1015 PM    NORWAY                    WI   WIND DAMAGE
08/03/97   RACINE                         TREES DOWN ACROSS 7 MILE
                                          ROAD

GD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 3, 7:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green, Rock	59 min
Aug 3, 7:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac, Green Lake	57 min
Aug 3, 8:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge	54 min
Aug 3, 9:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green Lake	60 min
Aug 3, 10:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge	60 min
Aug 3, 10:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Racine, Walworth	58 min
Aug 4, 1:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dane	49 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.