Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 60, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 15, 1998Barron County, Polk County, Wisconsin

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 5:37 PM CDT for Barron County, Polk County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 58 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, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1998, 6:35 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Barron County, WI, Polk County, WI

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 15, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 132 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1571 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 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
1571 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
642 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

309 
WUUS1 KMSP 152238 RRA
SVRMSP
WIC005-033-091-093-095-109-152335-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
537 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS
ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BARRON COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN
  DUNN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  PEPIN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  PIERCE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
  POLK COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN
  ST. CROIX COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 635 PM CDT

* AT 535 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE STORMS
  FROM GRANTSBURG TO PEPIN.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60
  MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    BALSAM LAKE
    BALDWIN
    ELLSWORTH
    DURAND
    MENOMONIE
    RICE LAKE

THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS.  STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE
TORNADOES.
JMP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 4:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPolk, Saint Croix58 min
May 15, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDunn, Pepin, Pierce, Saint Croix58 min
May 15, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Eau Claire32 min
May 15, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Rusk62 min
May 15, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXEau Claire62 min
May 15, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBarron, Dunn32 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.