Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Twin Cities, MN
NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 6:28 PM CDT for Chippewa County, Rusk County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 62 min. 3 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, 6:28 PM CDT (23:28 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1998, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Twin Cities, MN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Chippewa County, WI, Rusk County, WI
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 161 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:30 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, 6:55 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Chippewa Falls, WI | Trees also blown down. |
| May 15, 7:05 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | Ladysmith, WI | Roof ripped off apartment building and restaurant. Flying debris from apartment building damaged nearby motel. 3,000 pound pontoon boat on Lake Flambeau blown a distance of 125 feet and destroyed. Many trees blown over. Numerous garages and sheds destroyed |
| May 15, 7:25 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Bloomer, WI | Shed destroyed. Estimated windspeed. |
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, 4:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 194 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
- 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
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Polk, Saint Croix | 58 min |
| May 15, 5:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, Saint Croix | 58 min |
| May 15, 5:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Barron, Polk | 58 min |
| May 15, 6:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Chippewa, Eau Claire | 32 min |
| May 15, 6:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Eau Claire | 62 min |
| May 15, 6:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Barron, Dunn | 32 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.