Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Milwaukee, WI

May 15, 1998Lafayette County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 9:11 PM CDT for Lafayette County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 34 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 15, 1998, 9:11 PM CDT (02:11 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1998, 9:45 PM CDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area: Whole counties

County Lafayette County, WI

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:11 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.

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, 5:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 260 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: 577 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -445 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1364 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 194 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 195 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.

573 
WUUS1 KMKE 160210 RRA
SVRMKE
WIC065-160245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
911 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN LAFAYETTE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 910 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CENTRAL LAFAYETTE COUNTY... MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 45 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BLANCHARDVILLE AT 920 PM
  GARTIOT AT 915 PM
  FAYETTE AT 915 PM

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER
THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES. IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS... SEEK SAFETY IN A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS. A BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST
PROTECTION.

MK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 15, 8:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN
805 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0755 PM    CUBA CITY                 WI   TORNADO
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      6 INJURIES

JH

Local storm report, May 15, 8:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN
805 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0755 PM    CUBA CITY                 WI   TORNADO
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      6 INJURIES

JH

Local storm report, May 15, 9:05 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN
905 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0745 PM    1 E HAZEL GREEN           WI   WIND DAMAGE
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.

0745 PM    NR CUBA CITY              WI   WIND DAMAGE
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      *** 2 INJ ***
                                          TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
                                          AND SOME BUILDING DAMAGE.
                                          COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN A
                                          TORNADO... BUT NOT
                                          CONFIRMED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.

0757 PM    BENTON                    WI   WIND DAMAGE
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      BUILDING BLOWN DOWN.

0805 PM    MINERAL POINT             WI   60 MPH WIND GUST
05/15/98   IOWA                           HIGH WINDS AND EXTREMELY
                                          POOR VISIBILITIES IN HEAVY
                                          RAINS.

0750 PM    7 NW SHULLSBURG           WI   60 MPH WIND GUST
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      HIGH WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS

0827 PM    3 SW REEDSBURG            WI   65 MPH WIND GUST
05/15/98   SAUK                           HIGH WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS.

KAPELA

Local storm report, May 15, 9:05 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN
905 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0745 PM    1 E HAZEL GREEN           WI   WIND DAMAGE
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.

0745 PM    NR CUBA CITY              WI   WIND DAMAGE
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      *** 2 INJ ***
                                          TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
                                          AND SOME BUILDING DAMAGE.
                                          COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN A
                                          TORNADO... BUT NOT
                                          CONFIRMED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.

0757 PM    BENTON                    WI   WIND DAMAGE
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      BUILDING BLOWN DOWN.

0805 PM    MINERAL POINT             WI   60 MPH WIND GUST
05/15/98   IOWA                           HIGH WINDS AND EXTREMELY
                                          POOR VISIBILITIES IN HEAVY
                                          RAINS.

0750 PM    7 NW SHULLSBURG           WI   60 MPH WIND GUST
05/15/98   LAFAYETTE                      HIGH WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS

0827 PM    3 SW REEDSBURG            WI   65 MPH WIND GUST
05/15/98   SAUK                           HIGH WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS.

KAPELA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 7:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Lafayette	62 min
May 15, 7:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Iowa	64 min
May 15, 8:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Iowa	46 min
May 15, 8:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dane, Sauk	59 min
May 15, 8:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Lafayette	45 min
May 15, 8:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green, Rock	62 min
May 15, 9:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Dane	63 min
May 15, 9:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge, Jefferson, Walworth	59 min
May 15, 9:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac, Green Lake	60 min
May 15, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac, Washington, Waukesha	62 min
May 15, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Kenosha, Racine	62 min
May 15, 10:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Sheboygan	63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.