Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 357

May 15, 19987 counties in Minnesota; 24 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 15, 1998, 4:30 PM CDT for 7 counties in Minnesota; 24 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1998, 4:30 PM CDT (21:30 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1998, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties

Carlton County, MN, Fillmore County, MN, Houston County, MN, Lake County, MN, Saint Louis County, MN, Wabasha County, MN, Winona County, MN, Ashland County, WI, Barron County, WI, Bayfield County, WI, Buffalo County, WI, Burnett County, WI, Chippewa County, WI, Clark County, WI, Douglas County, WI, Dunn County, WI, Eau Claire County, WI, Jackson County, WI, La Crosse County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Pepin County, WI, Pierce County, WI, Polk County, WI, Price County, WI, Rusk County, WI, Saint Croix County, WI, Sawyer County, WI, Taylor County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Washburn County, WI

Warnings issued inside it

33 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 4:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPolk, Saint Croix58 min
May 15, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXOlmsted, Wabasha, Winona63 min
May 15, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFillmore, Houston63 min
May 15, 5:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHBurnett, Washburn56 min
May 15, 5:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis55 min
May 15, 5:12 PM CDTTornado WarningARXOlmsted, Winona48 min
May 15, 5:23 PM CDTTornado WarningDLHBurnett62 min
May 15, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningARXWabasha50 min
May 15, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXLa Crosse, Trempealeau63 min
May 15, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDunn, Pepin, Pierce, Saint Croix58 min
May 15, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBarron, Polk58 min
May 15, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton59 min
May 15, 6:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHBurnett44 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, 6:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFillmore, Houston, Winona46 min
May 15, 6:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDLHCarlton, Pine34 min
May 15, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBarron, Dunn32 min
May 15, 6:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXBuffalo, La Crosse, Trempealeau61 min
May 15, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton, Saint Louis60 min
May 15, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHBayfield, Douglas, Sawyer60 min
May 15, 7:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHWashburn33 min
May 15, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningDLHSaint Louis32 min
May 15, 7:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXJackson, Monroe48 min
May 15, 7:42 PM CDTTornado WarningDLHSaint Louis33 min
May 15, 7:54 PM CDTTornado WarningDLHBayfield36 min
May 15, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHItasca, Saint Louis60 min
May 15, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAshland, Iron, Price59 min
May 15, 8:11 PM CDTTornado WarningDLHAshland34 min
May 15, 8:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXClark64 min
May 15, 8:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXJackson47 min
May 15, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCook, Lake, Saint Louis63 min

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 245 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

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 9:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge and 24 more5 hr
May 15, 2:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAitkin, Anoka, Becker, Beltrami, Benton, Cass and 37 more7 hr
May 15, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge and 28 more6 hr
May 15, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCrawford, Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and 1 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 1998Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 1998Every tornado watch 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.