Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 18, NWS La Crosse, WI

July 30, 2002Taylor County, Wisconsin

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 30, 2002, 5:37 PM CDT for Taylor County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 53 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 30, 2002, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 2002, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Taylor County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 160 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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 30, 5:38 PM CDTHail 1.75Gilman, WI

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 30, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 219 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2002-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 104 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2002-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
104 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-191 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1055 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 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.

796 
WFUS53 KARX 302237
TORLSE
WIC119-302330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
537 PM CDT TUE JUL 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TAYLOR COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 537 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 29 MILES WEST OF MEDFORD...OR ABOUT 20 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF LADYSMITH...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE DEVELOPING TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  OVER RURAL TAYLOR COUNTY AT 550 PM CDT

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
NOT BE OCCURRING WHEN THE WARNING IS ISSUED...BUT ONE IS EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER
IN A BASEMENT OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

LAT...LON 4529 9107 4506 9090 4506 9024 4538 9008

SAW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXTaylor61 min
Jul 30, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXLa Crosse, Vernon53 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.