Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Milwaukee, WI

July 25, 1997Dane County, Dodge County, Jefferson County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 25, 1997, 8:57 PM CDT for Dane County, Dodge County, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 63 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 25, 1997, 8:57 PM CDT (01:57 UTC)
Expired: Jul 25, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area: Whole counties

Counties Dane County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Jefferson County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:01 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
Jul 25, 9:02 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Marshall, WI
Jul 25, 9:06 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Cold 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 25, 7:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 162 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: 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 260157 RRA
TORMKE
WIC025-027-055-260300-

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

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

* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  SUN PRAIRIE
  LAKE MILLS
  JEFFERSON
  MARSHALL

* AT 855 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 12 MILES NORTHEAST OF MADISON NEAR SUN PRAIRIE AND 24
  MILES EAST OF MADISON NEAR LAKE MILLS. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
  EASTSOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THESE DANGEROUS STORMS...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.

TZ/JH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 25, 7:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dane, Dodge, Jefferson	54 min
Jul 25, 7:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Dane, Jefferson	29 min
Jul 25, 8:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Dane, Jefferson	34 min
Jul 25, 8:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Washington	59 min
Jul 25, 8:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Dane, Jefferson	32 min
Jul 25, 9:17 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MKX	Dane, Jefferson	3 hr
Jul 25, 11:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Ozaukee, Washington	49 min
Jul 26, 3:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Sauk	40 min
Jul 26, 4:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia	65 min
Jul 26, 4:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dane, Jefferson	57 min
Jul 26, 5:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge	57 min
Jul 26, 5:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Jefferson, Waukesha	63 min
Jul 26, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Walworth	55 min
Jul 26, 5:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Kenosha, Racine	64 min
Jul 26, 5:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington	64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.