Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Milwaukee, WI

May 15, 1998Lafayette County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1998, 8:25 PM CDT for Lafayette County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report 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, 8:25 PM CDT (01:25 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1998, 9:10 PM CDT
In force
45 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 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 15, 9:05 PM CDTHail 0.75Darlington, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 15, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 1998-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 577 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 1998-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 194 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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.

286 
WFUS1 KMKE 160124 RRA
TORMKE
WIC065-160210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
825 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LAFAYETTE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 910 PM CDT

* AT 825... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO NEAR LEAD MINE... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  DARLINGTON AT 840 PM
  GRATIOT AT 840 PM
  LAMONT AT 850 PM

IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS... SEEK SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
AWAY FROM WINDOWS. A BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION


&
KRR/SJH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXLafayette62 min
May 15, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXIowa64 min
May 15, 8:04 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXIowa46 min
May 15, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDane, Sauk59 min
May 15, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXGreen, Rock62 min
May 15, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXColumbia, Dane63 min
May 15, 9:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXLafayette34 min
May 15, 9:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDodge, Jefferson, Walworth59 min
May 15, 9:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXFond du Lac, Green Lake60 min
May 15, 10:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXFond du Lac, Washington, Waukesha62 min
May 15, 10:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXKenosha, Racine62 min
May 15, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXSheboygan63 min

Nearby

Tornado 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.