Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 178

April 23, 200138 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 23, 2001, 9:30 AM CDT for 38 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 23, 2001, 9:30 AM CDT (14:30 UTC)
Expired: Apr 23, 2001, 3:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 38 counties

Adams County, WI, Barron County, WI, Buffalo County, WI, Chippewa County, WI, Clark County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Crawford County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Dunn County, WI, Eau Claire County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Iron County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, La Crosse County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Pepin County, WI, Polk County, WI, Portage County, WI, Price County, WI, Richland County, WI, Rusk County, WI, Saint Croix County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Sawyer County, WI, Taylor County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Winnebago County, WI, Wood County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:33 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 23, 10:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	La Crosse	25 min
Apr 23, 10:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Chippewa	34 min
Apr 23, 10:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Clark, Jackson	42 min
Apr 23, 11:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DLH	Price	58 min
Apr 23, 11:35 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Wood	40 min
Apr 23, 11:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Lincoln	35 min
Apr 23, 11:53 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marathon, Portage	52 min
Apr 23, 12:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green Lake, Marquette	24 min
Apr 23, 12:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green Lake	30 min
Apr 23, 12:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Winnebago	50 min
Apr 23, 1:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Calumet, Outagamie, Winnebago	42 min

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 186 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 939 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 169 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.

000 
WWUS9 KMKC 231430
SEL8  

SEL8  
MKC WW 231426
WIZ000-232000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 178
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
926 AM CDT MON APR 23 2001

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   WISCONSIN                          

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 930 AM UNTIL 300
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 70 MILES NORTH OF EAU CLAIRE WISCONSIN TO 5 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF MADISON WISCONSIN.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

DISCUSSION...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS INTENSIFYING ALONG SURFACE
COLD FRONT ALONG THE MS RIVER.  THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO TRACK
RAPIDLY NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS MOST OF WI DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL
HOURS.  DAYTIME HEATING AND COLD MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES WILL
DESTABILIZE AIRMASS AHEAD OF STORMS...WHERE VERY STRONG SHEAR
PROFILES ARE PRESENT.  LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ACTIVITY.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040.

...HART

;462,0901 433,0881 423,0903 451,0924;

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 23, 12:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Florence and 29 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2001 Every tornado watch in 2001

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.