Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 252
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 2008, 4:31 PM CDT for 20 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 2, 2008, 4:31 PM CDT (21:31 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 2008, 7:07 PM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Adams County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Crawford County, WI, Dane County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, La Crosse County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Richland County, WI, Rock County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Walworth County, WI
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:34 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 SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake | 64 min |
| May 2, 5:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Grant | 41 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, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 202 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 589 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 189 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 148 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 022126
SEL2
SPC WW 022126
WIZ000-030300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 252
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
430 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
PARTS OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 430 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 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 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF CAMP
DOUGLAS WISCONSIN TO 10 MILES WEST OF JANESVILLE WISCONSIN. FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).
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 251...
DISCUSSION...WARM SECTOR E OF DEEP SURFACE LOW HAS DEVELOPED INTO
SRN WI. SHEAR AND MLCAPES TO 1000 J/KG WILL SUPPORT SUPERCELLS
INCLUDING HAIL AND TORNADO THREAT. STORMS WILL DEVELOP NWD TO WARM
FRONT.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 18030.
...HALESSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 11:05 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crawford, Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and 3 more | 115 min |
| May 2, 3:05 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Rock | 115 min |
| May 2, 3:47 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac and 11 more | 118 min |
| May 2, 6:47 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Marquette and 1 more | 88 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008
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.