Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Milwaukee, WI
NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 8:21 PM CDT for Dane County, Sauk County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 59 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, 8:21 PM CDT (01:21 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1998, 9:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Milwaukee, WI
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Dane County, WI, Sauk County, WI
The radar
The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:25 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, 8:27 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 56 | Reedsburg, WI | |
| May 15, 9:30 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Mt Horeb, 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, 5:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| May 15, 7:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 187 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
274 WUUS1 KMKE 160121 RRA SVRMKE WIC025-111-160220- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 821 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... DANE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN SAUK COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN * UNTIL 920 PM CDT * AT 820 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CENTRAL IOWA... MOVING NORTHEAST AT AROUND 45 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... LELAND 840 PM PLAIN 840 PM BLACK EARTH 845 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, 16 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
JHLocal storm report, May 15, 8:05 PM CDT, 16 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
JHThe 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, 8:25 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, 9:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Lafayette | 34 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, 1998Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.