Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 227

May 2, 20127 counties in Minnesota; 9 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 2, 2012, 7:47 PM CDT for 7 counties in Minnesota; 9 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2012, 7:47 PM CDT (00:47 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2012, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Dodge County, MN, Fillmore County, MN, Houston County, MN, Mower County, MN, Olmsted County, MN, Wabasha County, MN, Winona County, MN, Adams County, WI, Buffalo County, WI, Clark County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, La Crosse County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI, Vernon County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:51 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
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

9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 8:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXWabasha65 min
May 2, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXWabasha72 min
May 2, 8:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXWabasha6 hr
May 2, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXWabasha17 min
May 2, 9:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXWabasha, Winona56 min
May 2, 9:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXTrempealeau67 min
May 2, 9:33 PM CDTTornado WarningARXWabasha27 min
May 2, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXTrempealeau52 min
May 2, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXJackson30 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 174 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2012-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 84 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2012-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
84 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1937 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 7:20 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Stone, Clay, Grant, Traverse, Wilkin55 min
May 2, 7:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore and 16 more37 min
May 2, 9:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue and 10 more27 min
May 2, 11:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Big Stone, Carver, Chippewa, Dakota, Hennepin and 17 more24 min
May 3, 8:43 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDakota, Dodge, Goodhue, Olmsted, Rice, Steele and 2 more92 min
May 2, 11:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Calumet, Clark, Columbia, Dodge and 20 more54 min
May 3, 10:34 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalumet, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson and 8 more86 min
May 3, 1:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCColumbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Jefferson, Kenosha and 7 more6 hr
May 3, 2:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee and 5 more67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Wisconsin, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012

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.