Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Milwaukee, WI

July 25, 1997Dane County, Jefferson County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 25, 1997, 8:28 PM CDT for Dane County, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 32 min. 4 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 25, 1997, 8:28 PM CDT (01:28 UTC)
Expired
Jul 25, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dane County, WI, Jefferson County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:31 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 25, 8:30 PM CDTThunderstorm WindConcord, WI
Jul 25, 8:45 PM CDTThunderstorm WindHebron, WI
Jul 25, 9:02 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Marshall, WI
Jul 25, 9:06 PM CDTThunderstorm WindCold Spg, 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 25, 7:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 179 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 738 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 193 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
738 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
543 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 260129 RRA
TORMKE
WIC025-055-260200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
828 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHEASTERN DANE COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  JEFFERSON COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  WAUNAUKEE
  WINDSOR
  COTTAGE GROVE
  DEERFIELD

* AT 830 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 9 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF MADISON...NEAR WAUNAKEE  AND
  ANOTHER TORNADO 9 MILES EAST OF MADISON...NEAR COTTAGE GROVE..
  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH..

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN
THE BASEMEN>T 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.

TZ/JH
 

&

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, 8:57 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, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXSauk40 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

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.