Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Milwaukee, WI

August 3, 2004Columbia County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 2004, 4:59 PM CDT for Columbia County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 31 min. 5 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 3, 2004, 4:59 PM CDT (21:59 UTC)
Expired: Aug 3, 2004, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Columbia County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:00 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 3, 5:12 PM CDT	TSTM WND GST 75	Fall River, WI	LAW ENFORCEMENT ESTIMATED 75 MPH WINDS 2 MILES NW OF FALL RIVER TO 1 MILE SE OF FALL RIVER. 100 HOMES IN FALL RIVER ARE DAMAGED. A 40 FOOT OAK TREE WAS TOPPLED. PROPERTY AND CROP DAMAGE COSTS ARE EXPECTED TO EXCEED ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
Aug 3, 5:12 PM CDT	HAIL 2.75	2 Nw Fall River, WI	GOLFBALL TO BASEBALL SIZED HAIL WAS NOTED FROM 2 MILES NW OF FALL RIVER TO COLUMBUS BETWEEN 512 PM AND 518 PM. HAIL JUST UNDER GOLF BALL SIZE WAS STILL ON THE GROUND TWO HOURS AFTER THE EVENT.
Aug 3, 5:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.25	1 Nnw Columbus, WI	HALF DOLLAR SIZED HAIL REPORTED ON DUBORG ROAD BETWEEN FALL RIVER AND COLUMBUS.
Aug 3, 5:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	Doylestown, WI	HAIL COVERING THE GROUND.
Aug 3, 5:40 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	Columbus, 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 3, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 142 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1004 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KMKX 032159
TORMKX
WIC021-032230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
459 PM CDT TUE AUG 3 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COLUMBIA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 459 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE MOST
  DANGEROUS PORTION OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR RIO...OR ABOUT 12
  MILES NORTHWEST OF COLUMBUS...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  DOYLESTOWN AROUND 505 PM CDT...
  FALL RIVER AROUND 525 PM CDT...
  COLUMBUS AROUND 530 PM CDT...

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS

LAT...LON 4333 8901 4337 8932 4346 8931 4347 8929
      4354 8929 4353 8922 4353 8903 4352 8901

$$

REM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 3, 4:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Sauk	51 min
Aug 3, 4:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Sauk	23 min
Aug 3, 5:15 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MKX	Columbia, Sauk	3 hr
Aug 3, 5:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge	44 min
Aug 3, 5:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Dodge	66 min
Aug 3, 6:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge, Jefferson	27 min
Aug 3, 6:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Iowa, Sauk	42 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.