Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Milwaukee, WI

May 31, 1998Kenosha County, Racine County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1998, 2:42 AM CDT for Kenosha County, Racine County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 93 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 31, 1998, 2:42 AM CDT (07:42 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1998, 4:15 AM CDT
In force: 93 min
Issued by: NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area: Whole counties

Counties Kenosha County, WI, Racine County, WI

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 31, 3:30 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Caledonia, WI
May 31, 4:00 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Kenosha, 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 31, 1:00 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 205 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.

828 
WUUS1 KMKE 310743 RRA
SVRMKE
WIC059-101-310915-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
242 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  KENOSHA COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
  RACINE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 415 AM CDT

* AT 245 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM WATERTOWN IN
  JEFFERSON COUNTY TO MONROE IN GREEN COUNTY... MOVING EAST AT 50
  MPH.

* THIS LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE WINDS TO 80 MPH
  AND SHOULD PRODUCE WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE ACROSS KENOSHA AND
  RACINE COUNTIES.

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.

HENTZ/JH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 1:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Sauk	89 min
May 31, 1:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Green Lake, Marquette	80 min
May 31, 1:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Iowa	90 min
May 31, 1:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dane	92 min
May 31, 1:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Lafayette	92 min
May 31, 1:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge, Fond du Lac	89 min
May 31, 1:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green	70 min
May 31, 1:57 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Jefferson, Rock	78 min
May 31, 2:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Sheboygan, Washington	75 min
May 31, 2:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Waukesha	75 min
May 31, 2:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Milwaukee, Ozaukee	78 min
May 31, 2:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Walworth	78 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.