Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 23, NWS La Crosse, WI

August 26, 2004Richland County, Wisconsin

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 26, 2004, 9:46 PM CDT for Richland County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 59 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: Aug 26, 2004, 9:46 PM CDT (02:46 UTC)
Expired: Aug 26, 2004, 10:45 PM CDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS La Crosse, WI
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Richland County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:47 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 26, 10:08 PM CDT	HAIL 0.75	Gillingham, WI
Aug 26, 10:08 PM CDT	HAIL 0.75	Gillingham, WI

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 26, 4:10 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr
Aug 26, 9:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 197 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: 3587 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 948 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 211 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.5
Supercell composite: 18.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KARX 270246
TORARX
WIC103-270345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
946 PM CDT THU AUG 26 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RICHLAND COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 1045 PM CDT

* AT 946 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DETECTED A TORNADO 2
  MILES NORTHWEST OF WILD ROSE...OR ABOUT 11 MILES WEST OF RICHLAND
  CENTER. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS TORNADO
  WARNING IS AN UPGRADE FROM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED
  FOR RICHLAND COUNTY.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  COUNTY ROADS Z Z AND Q AND BABB RIDGE AROUND 955 PM CDT...
  COUNTY ROADS A AND Z AND ASH RIDGE AROUND 1000 PM CDT...
  GILLINGHAM AND HIGHWAYS 80 AND 56 AROUND 1005 PM CDT...
  BUCK CREEK AND WOODSTOCK AROUND 1010 PM CDT...
  ROCKBRIDGE AROUND 1015 PM CDT...

A TORNADO IS BEING DETECTED BY RADAR. THIS MEANS THAT A TORNADO MAY
NOT BE OCCURRING WHEN THE WARNING IS ISSUED...BUT ONE IS EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP. TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR A STURDY BUILDING. AS A
LAST RESORT...LAY FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

LAT...LON 4336 9067 4326 9056 4344 9020 4356 9045

$$

BAUMGARDT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 26, 9:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Richland	54 min
Aug 26, 9:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Juneau	51 min
Aug 26, 10:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Adams	59 min
Aug 26, 10:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Crawford	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.