Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Green Bay, WI

May 31, 1998Marathon County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 12:18 AM CDT for Marathon County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 47 min. 5 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 31, 1998, 12:18 AM CDT (05:18 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1998, 1:05 AM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Green Bay, WI
Area: Whole counties

County Marathon County, WI

The radar

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 138 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:19 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
May 31, 12:25 AM CDT	Hail 1	Athens, WI
May 31, 12:48 AM CDT	Hail 1	Spencer, WI
May 31, 1:02 AM CDT	Hail 0.88	Wausau, WI
May 31, 1:05 AM CDT	Hail 1	Stratford, WI
May 31, 1:15 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 74	Mosinee, 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 30, 11:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 139 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: 450 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -48 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 891 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 358 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 509 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 9.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

170 
WFUS1 KGRB 310520 RRA
TORGRB
WIC073-310605-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
1218 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREEN BAY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN MARATHON COUNTY IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 105 AM CDT

* AT 1215 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND
  SPOTTERS DETECTED A TORNADO 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAUSAU.
  THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  FENWOOD BY 1230 AM
  AND EDGAR BY 1235 AM

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

DI/JS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 10:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Wood	44 min
May 30, 10:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marathon	60 min
May 30, 10:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage	62 min
May 30, 11:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marathon	63 min
May 30, 11:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Shawano, Waupaca	63 min
May 31, 12:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Shawano	34 min
May 31, 12:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Oconto	59 min
May 31, 12:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago	64 min
May 31, 12:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Outagamie	64 min
May 31, 1:04 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Marathon	61 min
May 31, 1:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Menominee, Shawano	63 min
May 31, 1:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage, Wood	78 min
May 31, 1:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Waupaca, Waushara	61 min
May 31, 1:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Brown, Calumet	64 min
May 31, 1:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marinette, Oconto	62 min
May 31, 2:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Outagamie, Winnebago	34 min
May 31, 2:20 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Kewaunee, Manitowoc	75 min
May 31, 2:20 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Door	75 min
May 31, 2:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Brown, Calumet	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.