Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2016

Tornado Watch 259

June 15, 201627 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 15, 2016, 2:13 PM CDT for 27 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 15, 2016, 2:13 PM CDT (19:13 UTC)
Expired
Jun 15, 2016, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 27 counties

Adams County, WI, Brown County, WI, Calumet County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Iron County, WI, Langlade County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Manitowoc County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Menominee County, WI, Oneida County, WI, Outagamie County, WI, Ozaukee County, WI, Portage County, WI, Price County, WI, Shawano County, WI, Sheboygan County, WI, Vilas County, WI, Washington County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Winnebago County, WI, Wood County, WI

The radar

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:15 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
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 15, 3:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBWood46 min
Jun 15, 4:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBOneida42 min
Jun 15, 4:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBLincoln41 min
Jun 15, 4:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXAdams66 min
Jun 15, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBPortage, Wood33 min
Jun 15, 4:38 PM CDTTornado WarningGRBMarathon17 min
Jun 15, 5:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXMarquette56 min
Jun 15, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBWaushara38 min
Jun 15, 5:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBForest, Oneida48 min
Jun 15, 5:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBOutagamie, Waupaca65 min
Jun 15, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBWaushara11 min
Jun 15, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBWinnebago45 min
Jun 15, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDodge, Fond du Lac24 min
Jun 15, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBCalumet, Manitowoc47 min
Jun 15, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee, Washington45 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, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 116 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2016-06-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2016-06-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
511 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

677 
WWUS20 KWNS 151910
SEL9  
SPC WW 151910
WIZ000-LMZ000-160100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 259
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
210 PM CDT WED JUN 15 2016

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  WISCONSIN
  LAKE MICHIGAN

* EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 210 PM
  UNTIL 800 PM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...LOW-TOPPED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE ACROSS
CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SUBSEQUENTLY SPREAD EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD TOWARD
EAST-CENTRAL/SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING HOURS. MODESTLY STRENGTHENING LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND THE
PROXIMITY OF AN UPPER LOW WILL CONTRIBUTE TO SOME TORNADO
POTENTIAL...PARTICULARLY ACROSS CENTRAL TO EAST-CENTRAL WISCONSIN
NEAR A SURFACE LOW/WARM FRONT. SEVERE HAIL AND WIND WILL ALSO BE
POSSIBLE.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
RHINELANDER WISCONSIN TO 50 MILES SOUTH OF OSHKOSH WISCONSIN. 
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 258...

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 29025.


...GUYER

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 14, 8:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuffalo, Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Jackson, La Crosse and 6 more84 min
Jun 15, 12:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Calumet, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia and 24 more2 hr
Jun 15, 3:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac and 24 more2 hr
Jun 15, 5:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Calumet, Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake and 6 more92 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2016Every tornado watch in 2016

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.