Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 6, NWS La Crosse, WI
NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1998, 5:30 PM CDT for Wabasha County, Minnesota; Buffalo County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 50 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
- May 15, 1998, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1998, 6:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS La Crosse, WI
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Wabasha County, MN, Buffalo County, WI
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 5:35 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 54 | Wabasha, MN | |
| May 15, 5:50 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Mondovi, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 140 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1571 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -84 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 642 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 179 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 180 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 6.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
265 WFUS1 KLSE 152229 RRA TORLSE MNC157-WIC011-152320- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 530 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... BUFFALO COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN WABASHA COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA * UNTIL 620 PM CDT * AT 525PM CDT...SPOTTERS INDICATED A TORNADO 13 MILES SOUTH OF WABASHA... MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... WABASHA BY 535 A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND GO TO THE BASEMENT IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR RLB
The office that day
Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Olmsted, Wabasha, Winona | 63 min |
| May 15, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Fillmore, Houston | 63 min |
| May 15, 5:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Dodge, Mower | 46 min |
| May 15, 5:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ARX | Olmsted, Winona | 48 min |
| May 15, 6:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Fillmore, Houston, Winona | 46 min |
| May 15, 5:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | La Crosse, Trempealeau | 63 min |
| May 15, 6:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Buffalo, La Crosse, Trempealeau | 61 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1998Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998
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.