Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 668

September 2, 2002Dickinson County, Michigan; Fillmore County, Houston County, Winona County, Minnesota; 33 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 2, 2002, 4:45 PM CDT for Dickinson County, Michigan; Fillmore County, Houston County, Winona County, Minnesota; 33 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Sep 2, 2002, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired: Sep 2, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 37 counties

Dickinson County, MI, Fillmore County, MN, Houston County, MN, Winona County, MN, Adams County, WI, Buffalo County, WI, Chippewa County, WI, Clark County, WI, Eau Claire County, WI, Florence County, WI, Forest County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, La Crosse County, WI, Langlade County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marinette County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Menominee County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Oconto County, WI, Oneida County, WI, Outagamie County, WI, Pepin County, WI, Portage County, WI, Price County, WI, Rusk County, WI, Sawyer County, WI, Shawano County, WI, Taylor County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Wood County, WI

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
Sep 2, 4:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DLH	Price	33 min
Sep 2, 5:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Clark	54 min
Sep 2, 5:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Taylor	64 min
Sep 2, 5:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Lincoln, Oneida	37 min
Sep 2, 5:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marathon	81 min
Sep 2, 6:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Marathon	52 min
Sep 2, 6:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage, Wood	61 min
Sep 2, 6:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Langlade, Marathon, Shawano	31 min
Sep 2, 7:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage	40 min
Sep 2, 8:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Waushara, Winnebago	50 min
Sep 2, 8:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Green Lake, Marquette	46 min

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 194 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: 5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -474 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1493 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 174 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 022145
SEL8  
SPC WW 022145
MNZ000-WIZ000-030300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 668
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
445 PM CDT MON SEP 2 2002

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

   SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA                          
   NORTHERN AND CENTRAL WISCONSIN                          

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 445 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

 ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...
 
DAMAGING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LA CROSSE WISCONSIN TO 30
MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF RHINELANDER 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 666.  WATCH NUMBER 666 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER 445 PM CDT.  CONTINUE...WW 667...

DISCUSSION...LINE OF EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS CONTINUES TO MOVE EWD
WITHIN HIGH INSTABILITY WITH CAPE TO 4000 J/KG.  HIGH SHEAR ALSO
PRESENT WITH STORM RELATIVE HELICITIES TO 300 M2/S2.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27040.


...MCCARTHY

460,0872 433,0890 433,0923 460,0910

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 2, 3:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Alger, Baraga, Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron and 4 more	7 hr
Sep 2, 1:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted and 2 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2002 Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2002 Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2002 Every tornado watch 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.