Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 3, NWS La Crosse, WI

July 8, 1999Winona County, Minnesota

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1999, 7:00 PM CDT for Winona County, Minnesota. It was in force for 60 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
Jul 8, 1999, 7:00 PM CDT (00:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1999, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Winona County, MN

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:04 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
Jul 8, 7:20 PM CDTTornado F2Lewiston, MN
Jul 8, 7:32 PM CDTHail 0.75Nodine, MN
Jul 8, 7:58 PM CDTHail 0.75Dresbach, MN

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
Jul 8, 6:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 174 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 00:00Z on 1999-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2575 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1999-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 157 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
2575 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1341 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
15.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLSE 090000 RRA
TORLSE
MNC169-090100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
700 PM CDT THU JUL 8 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WINONA COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT

* AT 655 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF ALTURA...15 MILES WEST OF WINONA... MOVING
  EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  ALTURA AROUND 705 PM
  UTICA AROUND 715 PM
  LEWISTON AROUND 720 PM

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

SHEA/THOMPSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXHouston60 min
Jul 8, 8:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFillmore, Houston65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.