Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Milwaukee, WI

July 16, 1997Fond du Lac County, Green Lake County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 16, 1997, 6:34 PM CDT for Fond du Lac County, Green Lake County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 46 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
Jul 16, 1997, 6:34 PM CDT (23:34 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1997, 7:20 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Fond du Lac County, WI, Green Lake County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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 16, 6:40 PM CDTHail 1.75Princeton, WI
Jul 16, 7:00 PM CDTThunderstorm WindWaupun, WI
Jul 16, 7:30 PM CDTHail 1Princeton, 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
Jul 16, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 1997-07-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2398 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1997-07-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 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
2398 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
948 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 162335
TORMKE
WIC039-047-170020-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
634 PM CDT WED JUL 16 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  FOND DU LAC COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  GREEN LAKE COUNTY - CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 720 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATION AFFECTED
  GREEN LAKE   BY 645 PM
  RIPON        BY 655 PM
  ROSENDALE    BY 705 PM

* AT 630 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR AT SULLIVAN INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 18 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF FOND DU LAC OR 4 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF ST CLOUD MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

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

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO...CARS CAN BE EASILY TOSSED
AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.

TH/CG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 16, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXGreen Lake, Marquette59 min
Jul 16, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXFond du Lac59 min
Jul 16, 6:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXSheboygan59 min
Jul 16, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee, Washington2 hr
Jul 16, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDodge2 hr
Jul 16, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXColumbia, Sauk59 min

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.