Alert archive / Wisconsin / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS La Crosse, WI

May 8, 2002Crawford County, Wisconsin

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this flash flood warning at May 8, 2002, 9:41 PM CDT for Crawford County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 8, 2002, 9:41 PM CDT (02:41 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2002, 12:30 AM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS La Crosse, WI
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Crawford County, WI

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 196 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: 1642 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 951 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 227 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS53 KARX 090241
FFWLSE
WIC023-090530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
939 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CRAWFORD COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 1230 AM CDT

* AT 939 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  UP TO 2 1/2 INCHES OF RAIN FELL NORTH OF A FERRYVILLE TO FAIRVIEW  
  TO SOLDIERS GROVE LINE. 

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IMMINENT.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNED AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE 
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. 

LAT...LON 4330 9067 4342 9067 4343 9121 4338 9121
          4329 9108

BAUMGARDT

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 8, 3:32 PM CDT, 6 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 3:32 PM CDT, 6 hours 9 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
332 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

...SEVERE WEATHER THREAT ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA TONIGHT...

THE MAIN FORECAST CONCERN WITH THIS PACKAGE DEALS WITH THE SEVERE WEATHER
THREAT FOR TONIGHT...AND STRONG WINDS FOR THURSDAY.

AT 3 PM...A STRENGTHENING SURFACE LOW WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHWEST IOWA.
BOTH THE ETA AND AVN MODELS HAVE THIS LOW POORLY INITIALIZED. THEY TEND
TO DEVELOP THE LOW OVER KANSAS AS THE MAIN LOW AND IGNORE THIS LOW.
HOWEVER...LOOKING AT THE SURFACE DEW POINTS...THE NORTHERN LOW WILL BE
THE MORE SIGNIFICANT OF THESE LOW PRESSURE AREAS. BY LOOKING AT THE
SURFACE DEW POINTS IT WOULD SUGGEST THAT THIS LOW WILL TRACK TOWARD
THE TWIN CITIES THIS EVENING. BREEZY SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST WINDS
ACROSS SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA...AND SOUTHWEST
WISCONSIN HAVE INCREASED THE SURFACE DEW POINTS INTO THE UPPER 50S
AND LOWER 60S. IN ADDITION...SUNSHINE THIS AFTERNOON HAS CAUSED
TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB INTO THE MIDDLE 70S ACROSS SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA
AND AROUND 80 IN NORTHEAST IOWA. SATELLITE SOUNDER DATA INDICATES
THAT THE LIFTED INDICES HAVE FALLEN TO -8 OVER NORTH CENTRAL IOWA AND
THE CAPES HAVE INCREASED TO AROUND 1500 J/KG ACROSS NORTHEAST IOWA.
FROM LOOKING AT THE BLUE RIVER PROFILER...THERE IS PLENTY OF SPEED
AND DIRECTIONAL SHEAR. AS A RESULT...I EXPECT THE THUNDERSTORMS TO
FORM INITIALLY AS SUPERCELLS AND EVENTUALLY EVOLVE INTO A SQUALL
LINE THIS EVENING. THE INITIAL THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER APPEARS TO
BE LARGE HAIL AND POTENTIALLY SOME ISOLATED TORNADOES...AND THEN
EVOLVE INTO A DAMAGING WIND EVENT.

AS THE LOW CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN DURING THE DAY THURSDAY...THE
PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE ACROSS THE COUNTY
WARNING AREA. IN ADDITION...THE AREA WILL SEE STRONG SUBSIDENCE
BEHIND THE SHORT WAVE. THE 1000 MB TO 850 MB LAPSE RATES ARE
MARGINAL FOR ADVECTING THE REALLY STRONG WINDS FROM ALOFT TO THE
SURFACE. AS A RESULT...THE WINDS WILL NOT BE QUITE AS STRONG AS THEY
COULD GET. HOWEVER...THE SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS WILL LIKELY STILL BE
IN THE 25 TO 35 MPH RANGE IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA AND NORTHEAST
IOWA...AND IN THE 20 TO 30 MPH RANGE ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE
AREA. WIND GUSTS WILL BE LIKELY AROUND 45 MPH. CONSIDERING ALL THAT
IS GOING ON TONIGHT...I DIDNT ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY AT THIS TIME...
BUT ONE MAY BE NEEDED FOR THURSDAY IF THE LAPSE RATES GET ANY
STEEPER.

.LSE...NONE.

BOYNE

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 8, 8:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
821 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0816 PM    WAUKON                    IA   71 MPH WIND GUST
05/08/02   ALLAMAKEE                      REPORTED BY SCHOOLNET VIA
                                          KWWL TV. WIND DIRECTION WAS
                                          SOUTHWEST.

SHEA

Local storm report, May 8, 8:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
822 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0815 PM    WAUKON                    IA   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/08/02   ALLAMAKEE                      SWIRLING CLOUDS NOTED BY
                                          SHERIFF DEPT.

SHEA

Local storm report, May 8, 8:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
830 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0810 PM    2 W WAUKON                IA   WIND DAMAGE
05/08/02   ALLAMAKEE                      UBC LUMBER HAD DAMAGE TO
                                          BUILDINGS.

SHEA

Local storm report, May 8, 9:10 PM CDT, 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
910 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0857 PM    4 E EASTMAN               WI   60 MPH WIND GUST
05/08/02   CRAWFORD                       REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC.
                                          GUST SPEED ESTIMATED.

SHEA

Local storm report, May 8, 9:18 PM CDT, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
918 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0915 PM    WAUKON                    IA   FLOODING
05/08/02   ALLAMAKEE                      MANY COUNTY ROADS WASHED
                                          OUT. SEVERAL INCHES OF
                                          RAIN.

SHEA

Special weather statement, May 8, 9:22 PM CDT, 19 minutes before

IAZ009-010-019-029-MNZ079-087-095-WIZ032-090330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
922 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

THE TORNADO WATCH THAT HAD BEEN IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM HAS BEEN
CANCELED FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTHEAST
MINNESOTA AND NORTHEAST IOWA. THE COUNTIES NO LONGER IN THE WATCH
INCLUDE...BUFFALO...WABASHA...OLMSTED...FILLMORE...HOWARD...
CHICKASAW...WINNESHIEK...AND FAYETTE.

THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT EAST OF THESE LOCATIONS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 7:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Buffalo	55 min
May 8, 8:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Crawford	53 min
May 8, 9:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Richland	65 min
May 8, 9:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Jackson, Monroe	61 min
May 8, 10:22 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ARX	Richland	4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Wisconsin, 2002 Every flash flood warning in 2002

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.