Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2005
Tornado Watch 730
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 18, 2005, 2:50 PM CDT for Allamakee County, Clayton County, Iowa; 21 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 18, 2005, 2:50 PM CDT (19:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 18, 2005, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 23 counties
Allamakee County, IA, Clayton County, IA, Adams County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Crawford County, WI, Dane County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, La Crosse County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Portage County, WI, Richland County, WI, Rock County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Wood County, WI
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:53 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.
Warnings issued inside it
17 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 3:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Vernon | 45 min |
| Aug 18, 4:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Richland | 66 min |
| Aug 18, 4:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ARX | Richland | 59 min |
| Aug 18, 4:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Sauk | 53 min |
| Aug 18, 4:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ARX | Juneau | 39 min |
| Aug 18, 5:07 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Iowa, Sauk | 23 min |
| Aug 18, 5:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Dane | 64 min |
| Aug 18, 5:21 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Columbia, Dane, Iowa, Sauk | 54 min |
| Aug 18, 5:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ARX | Adams | 26 min |
| Aug 18, 5:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Marquette | 43 min |
| Aug 18, 5:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Portage | 53 min |
| Aug 18, 6:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Columbia, Dane | 39 min |
| Aug 18, 6:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Green Lake, Marquette | 35 min |
| Aug 18, 6:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Waushara | 39 min |
| Aug 18, 6:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Dane | 36 min |
| Aug 18, 7:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Dane, Jefferson | 63 min |
| Aug 18, 7:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Rock, Walworth | 57 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 205 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 206 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -38 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 995 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 66 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 181949
SEL0
SPC WW 181949
IAZ000-MNZ000-WIZ000-190200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 730
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
250 PM CDT THU AUG 18 2005
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EXTREME NORTHEAST IOWA
EXTREME SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 250 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES NORTH OF CAMP DOUGLAS
WISCONSIN TO 50 MILES SOUTH OF LONEROCK WISCONSIN. FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).
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...CONTINUE...WW 729...
DISCUSSION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO
INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON NEAR SURFACE LOW/WARM FRONT FROM EXTREME
SOUTHEAST MN INTO WI. OTHER STORMS MAY DEVELOP SOUTHWARD INTO
EXTREME NORTHEAST IA. VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES WILL PROMOTE
SUPERCELL POTENTIAL NEAR WARM FRONT...WITH THE RISK OF ISOLATED
TORNADOES. DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY TO BE THE MAIN THREAT FARTHER
SOUTH.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26030.
...HART
443,0890 422,0890 422,0912 443,0912SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allamakee, Cedar, Clayton, Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque and 5 more | 96 min |
| Aug 18, 9:00 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Kenosha, Racine, Rock, Walworth | 2 hr |
| Aug 18, 5:47 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac and 24 more | 58 min |
| Aug 18, 5:50 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Kenosha, Walworth and 2 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2005Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2005Every tornado watch in 2005
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.