Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS La Crosse, WI

May 8, 2002Buffalo County, Wisconsin

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2002, 6:35 PM CDT for Buffalo County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 40 min. 2 reports 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
May 8, 2002, 6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2002, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Buffalo County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:41 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
May 8, 6:37 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61 EUrne, WI
May 8, 6:42 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70 EModena, 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
May 8, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 2002-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 401 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
401 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
393 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 
WFUS53 KARX 082335
TORLSE
WIC011-090015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
635 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BUFFALO COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 635 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF MODENA...OR ABOUT 8 MILES NORTH OF ALMA...
  MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  NEAR MODENA AT 645 PM CDT...
  NEAR MONDOVI AT 655 PM CDT...

TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

LAT...LON 4453 9201 4435 9196 4439 9152 4461 9154

BAUMGARDT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXBuffalo58 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.