Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 5, 1997Chippewa County, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1997, 6:47 PM CDT for Chippewa County, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 43 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 5, 1997, 6:47 PM CDT (23:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chippewa County, WI, Eau Claire County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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 5, 7:20 PM CDTHail 0.88Eau Claire, WI
Jul 5, 7:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Eau Claire, WILarge branches down at intersection of Interstate 94 and highway 93. Estimated windspeed. Funnel clouds also sighted.

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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 183 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1610 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 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 KMSP 052350 RRA
TORMSP
WIC017-035-060030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
647 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHWESTERN CHIPPEWA COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  WESTERN EAU CLAIRE COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    EAU CLAIRE
    CHIPPEWA FALLS
    ALTOONA
    BRACKETT

* AT 645 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO BETWEEN
  COLFAX AND ELK MOUND...OR ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF EAU CLAIRE.
  THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

TDK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 5, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPolk58 min
Jul 5, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXDunn30 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.