Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2018

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 166, NWS Duluth, MN

August 27, 2018Ashland County, Bayfield County, Sawyer County, Wisconsin

NWS Duluth, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 27, 2018, 4:40 PM CDT for Ashland County, Bayfield County, Sawyer County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 27, 2018, 4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 2018, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Duluth, MN
Area
Storm-based polygon
Hail
0.75 in
Wind
70.0 mph

Counties Ashland County, WI, Bayfield County, WI, Sawyer County, WI

The radar

The Duluth radar (KDLH), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:41 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 27, 2:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 261 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 12:00Z on 2018-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1465 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 12:00Z on 2018-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 232 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1465 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-96 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
698 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
249 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 27, 3:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 27, 3:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Duluth MN
312 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 2018

.SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday)
Issued at 312 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 2018

A cold front was moving through northeast Minnesota at 19Z/2pm and
was located from Brainerd to Duluth and up the north shore of Lake
Superior. Showers and thunderstorms were forming along and just
behind the front. This activity was also collocated with the
instability gradient, with the best instability in northwest
Wisconsin with MLCAPE values up to 3000 J/kg and MLCIN values were
eroding. Expect the showers and thunderstorms to overspread much of
northwest Wisconsin and east central Minnesota early this afternoon.
The storms will be moving to the east northeast at 40 to 50 mph.
Latest meso models continue to indicate this activity will exit
northwest Wisconsin by 03Z/10pm, and have carried this solution for
the last few runs. Large hail and damaging winds appear to be the
main hazards. Heavy rain with the stronger of the storms. Have held
off on a flood watch in northwest Wisconsin as the storms will move
quickly, and the soils are still fairly dry. The exception would be
southern Douglas and Bayfield counties, and will monitor convective
trends over the next few hours.

The rest of tonight finds the upper level trof moving into the
Dakotas and northwest Ontario late. Will see some scattered showers
dotting the landscape as pieces of vorticity move across the region.
Will keep the highest pops over the northern half of the forecast
area tonight due to their proximity to the upper trof.

The upper trof moves over Minnesota on Tuesday. Additional pieces
of vorticity are forecast to move across the region during the day.
Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms are probable along and
ahead of the trof. Behind the trof, high pressure begins to build
into the western third of the forecast area ending the rain. Max
temps will be a bit cooler with the expected cloud cover and cold
air advection.

.LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Monday)
Issued at 312 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 2018

The long-term forecast period will be mainly dry, except for some
chances of showers and thunderstorms Thursday night through Saturday
morning. Temperatures will be their coolest Tuesday night/Wednesday
morning, but should generally be near seasonal averages.

Chances of showers and storms should diminish Tuesday evening as a
mid-level shortwave and attendant cold front moves eastward out of
the region. Surface high pressure will then settle into the region,
although a weak shortwave trough might scrape across our northern
counties, which could linger some clouds over the region. With the
high pressure progged to be overhead Wednesday morning, very cool
conditions are expected, with overnight lows in the lower 40s north
to the middle to upper 40s south. Lows in the upper 30s are not out
of the question in some of the cooler spots along the Iron Range and
points north and west. Dry conditions are expected through the day
Wednesday.

For Thursday, expect some breezy conditions as the surface high
pressure departs the region, leading to a tightening pressure
gradient in its wake. Then, a more active period moves in for
Thursday night through Saturday morning as a broad upper-level
trough, and attendant low-level warm air advection projected along a
low-level jet moves into the region. The severe weather risk during
this period is low at this time as instability appears to be modest
(up to 1500 J/kg of MLCAPE Friday), but the low-level jet will help
to support better moisture transport, so some heavy rainfall will be
possible.

Once the better forcing moves off to the east, drier conditions
return for Saturday afternoon through much of the day Monday.
Another system makes its way into the region for late Monday.
Overall, temperatures will be near seasonal into the upcoming
weekend, with highs in the lower to middle 70s, and lows in the
50s.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Tuesday afternoon)
Issued at 1244 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 2018

A mixture of VFR and MVFR conditions are in place at the start of
the TAF period as a cold front bisects the region. A pocket of
clearing is seen immediately behind the front, but this is
expected to fill back in as the afternoon progresses. Showers and
storms are expected to develop across central Minnesota this
afternoon and then race into northern Wisconsin this evening. KHYR
still sees the best chance for this moderate to heavy rainfall and
this will lead to CIG and VSBY restrictions during this activity.
IFR stratus is then expected to develop across all sites for the
late evening and early morning hours along with times of LIFR
VSBYS and CIGS with areas of fog. Conditions will be slow to
improve Tuesday morning with MVFR conditions returning by the end
of the period.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DLH  56  60  47  65 /  90  30  10  10
INL  48  63  39  68 /  60  60  10  10
BRD  56  66  46  69 /  50  20  10   0
HYR  61  67  49  66 / 100  30  20  10
ASX  59  65  51  65 /  90  40  20  10

&&

.DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WI...None.
MN...None.
LS...None.
&&

SHORT TERM...GSF
LONG TERM...JTS
AVIATION...BJH
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 27, 3:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Duluth MN
328 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 2018

MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-281130-
Koochiching-North St. Louis-Northern Cook/Northern Lake-
North Itasca-Central St. Louis-Southern Lake/North Shore-
Southern Cook/North Shore-North Cass-South Itasca-South Cass-
Crow Wing-Northern Aitkin-South Aitkin-Carlton/South St. Louis-
Pine-Douglas-Bayfield-Ashland-Iron-Burnett-Washburn-Sawyer-Price-
328 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 2018

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of northeast
Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and Tonight

Severe thunderstorms will occur over Pine and Carlton counties,
as well as all of northwest Wisconsin tonight. Large hail,
damaging winds and heavy rain are the hazards.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday

Thunderstorms will be possible Thursday night through Saturday
morning.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Skywarn Spotters are needed until 10 pm in Pine and Carlton
counties, as well as all of northwest Wisconsin tonight.

LSZ121-140>148-281130-
Bayfield to Oak Point WI-Grand Portage to Grand Marais MN-
Grand Marais to Taconite Harbor MN-
Taconite Harbor to Silver Bay Harbor MN-
Silver Bay Harbor to Two Harbors MN-Two Harbors to Duluth MN-
Duluth MN to Port Wing WI-Port Wing to Sand Island WI-
Sand Island to Bayfield WI-Oak Point to Saxon Harbor WI-
328 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 2018

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of the Nearshore
waters of western Lake Superior.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and Tonight

Strong to severe thunderstorms will impact much of western Lake
Superior this afternoon through this evening, especially at the head
of the lake and along the South Shore, including the Apostle Islands
National Lakeshore. The main threats will be strong winds, large
hail, and frequent lightning.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday

Increasing northeast winds will lead to building waves across much
of western Lake Superior on Tuesday.

GSF/JTS

More information may be obtained at the following web address:
http://www.weather.gov/duluth (all lower case)

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 27, 3:50 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Duluth MN
350 PM CDT MON AUG 27 2018

MNZ038-WIZ001-006-007-272100-
Pine-Douglas-Washburn-Burnett-
350 PM CDT MON AUG 27 2018

...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT EAST CENTRAL PINE...
SOUTHERN DOUGLAS...WESTERN WASHBURN AND EASTERN BURNETT COUNTIES...

At 350 PM CDT, strong thunderstorms were along a line extending from
near Dairyland, to near Hertel, and moving east at 30 mph.

Wind gusts up to 40 mph, torrential rainfall, and nearly continuous
cloud to ground lightning can be expected with these storms.

Locations impacted include...
Spooner, Shell Lake, Trego, Siren, Wascott, Webster, Minong, Webb
Lake Wisconsin, Gordon, Dairyland, Cloverton, Danbury, Hertel,
Oakland, Cozy Corner, Mckenzie Lake, Minong Flowage, Birch Island
Lake, Lampson, and Saint Croix Flowage.

Seek shelter inside a sturdy building and away from windows until
these storms pass. Get off area lakes and seek shelter on shore in a
sturdy shelter or a hard-topped vehicle.

LAT...LON 4569 9215 4573 9216 4573 9243 4623 9237
      4632 9170 4568 9189
TIME...MOT...LOC 2050Z 268DEG 27KT 4624 9211 4576 9221

 Miller
Special weather statement, Aug 27, 4:01 PM CDT, 39 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Duluth MN
401 PM CDT MON AUG 27 2018

WIZ001-006-007-272115-
Douglas-Washburn-Burnett-
401 PM CDT MON AUG 27 2018

...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT CENTRAL DOUGLAS...
NORTHWESTERN WASHBURN AND NORTHEASTERN BURNETT COUNTIES...

At 401 PM CDT, strong thunderstorms were along a line extending from
Hawthorne, to near Gordon, to 7 miles southeast of Webb Lake
Wisconsin, and moving east at 40 mph.

Wind gusts up to 50 mph, torrential rainfall, and nearly continuous
cloud to ground lightning can be expected with these storms.

Very heavy rainfall could lead to localized flooding in low lying
and poorly drained areas in a very short period of time.

Locations impacted include...
Hawthorne, Lake Nebagamon, Trego, Wascott, Maple, Poplar In Douglas
County, Solon Springs, Minong, Webb Lake Wisconsin, Gordon,
Dairyland, South Range, Bennett, Mckenzie Lake, Minong Flowage,
Amnicon Lake, Birch Island Lake, Lampson, Earl, and Blueberry.

This also affects U.S. Highway 2 between Superior and Ashland.

Seek shelter inside a sturdy building and away from windows until
these storms pass. Get off area lakes and seek shelter on shore in a
sturdy shelter or a hard-topped vehicle. Do not drive into areas
where water covers the road!

LAT...LON 4666 9167 4627 9163 4589 9176 4592 9225
      4625 9215 4658 9215
TIME...MOT...LOC 2100Z 266DEG 34KT 4651 9189 4627 9189 4594 9203

 Miller
Special weather statement, Aug 27, 4:02 PM CDT, 38 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Duluth MN
402 PM CDT MON AUG 27 2018

WIZ001>003-272145-
Douglas-Bayfield-Ashland-
402 PM CDT MON AUG 27 2018

...AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT CENTRAL BAYFIELD...
NORTHEASTERN DOUGLAS AND NORTHWESTERN ASHLAND COUNTIES...

At 401 PM CDT, an area of strong thunderstorms was near Iron River,
or 38 miles east of Superior, moving east at 30 mph.

Wind gusts up to 45 mph, torrential rainfall, and frequent cloud to
ground lightning can be expected with these storms. Very heavy
rainfall could result in localized flooding in low lying and
poorly drained areas in a very short period of time.

These storms will be near...
  Ino around 415 PM CDT.
  Barksdale around 440 PM CDT.
  Ashland, Washburn, La Pointe and Odanah around 445 PM CDT.

Other locations impacted by these storms include Big Bay State Park,
Waino, Mouth Of Brule, New Odanah, Moquah, Red Cliff Reservation,
Apostle Islands National Lake Shore, and Bad River Reservation.

Seek shelter inside a sturdy building and away from windows until
these storms pass. Get off area lakes and seek shelter on shore in a
sturdy shelter or a hard-topped vehicle.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with these storms, and may cause
localized flooding. Do not drive into areas where water covers the
road, the road may be washed out.

LAT...LON 4646 9152 4675 9165 4691 9115 4692 9109
      4693 9108 4703 9078 4678 9061 4676 9063
      4675 9069 4673 9072 4662 9052
TIME...MOT...LOC 2101Z 251DEG 26KT 4657 9133

JTS
Special weather statement, Aug 27, 4:15 PM CDT, 25 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, Aug 27, 4:31 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Aug 27, 4:35 PM CDT, 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
435 PM CDT MON AUG 27 2018

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0420 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 ENE WEBB LAKE         46.04N 92.05W
08/27/2018                   WASHBURN           WI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            POWER LINES KNOCKED DOWN ON STATE HIGHWAY 77
            ALONG THE BORDER OF WASHBURN AND BURNETT
            COUNTIES.

&&

WL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Duluth, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 11:40 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHKoochiching20 min
Aug 27, 12:19 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHKoochiching26 min
Aug 27, 12:57 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHKoochiching33 min
Aug 27, 1:30 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHKoochiching30 min
Aug 27, 1:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHKoochiching, Saint Louis41 min
Aug 27, 1:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCass, Itasca38 min
Aug 27, 2:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHKoochiching, Saint Louis60 min
Aug 27, 3:34 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHSaint Louis26 min
Aug 27, 4:07 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHLake23 min
Aug 27, 4:47 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLH28 min
Aug 27, 2:17 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHAitkin, Pine13 min
Aug 27, 2:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHPine45 min
Aug 27, 3:09 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHCarlton21 min
Aug 27, 4:15 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHCrow Wing15 min
Aug 27, 4:31 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHAitkin14 min
Aug 27, 5:00 PM CDTSpecial Marine WarningDLH60 min
Aug 27, 5:13 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHPine17 min
Aug 27, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin, Pine26 min
Aug 27, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton, Pine47 min
Aug 27, 6:00 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDLHCarlton, Pine3 hr
Aug 27, 3:13 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHBayfield, Douglas17 min
Aug 27, 3:26 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHBurnett19 min
Aug 27, 3:30 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHDouglas30 min
Aug 27, 3:36 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHDouglas24 min
Aug 27, 3:50 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHBurnett10 min
Aug 27, 4:01 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHDouglas, Washburn14 min
Aug 27, 4:02 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHBayfield43 min
Aug 27, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHBayfield, Douglas33 min
Aug 27, 4:27 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDLHBayfield, Douglas6 hr
Aug 27, 5:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAshland, Iron46 min
Aug 27, 6:00 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementDLHIron30 min
Aug 27, 6:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHBurnett, Douglas, Washburn41 min
Aug 27, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHBayfield, Sawyer, Washburn47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 2018Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2018

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.