Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2018

Tornado Watch 395

October 3, 201811 counties in Michigan; 5 counties in Minnesota; 40 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 3, 2018, 4:31 PM EDT for 11 counties in Michigan; 5 counties in Minnesota; 40 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 3, 2018, 4:31 PM EDT (20:31 UTC)
Expired
Oct 4, 2018, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
70 kt
All 56 counties

Alger County, MI, Baraga County, MI, Delta County, MI, Dickinson County, MI, Gogebic County, MI, Houghton County, MI, Iron County, MI, Marquette County, MI, Menominee County, MI, Ontonagon County, MI, Schoolcraft County, MI, Carlton County, MN, Chisago County, MN, Goodhue County, MN, Pine County, MN, Wabasha County, MN, Ashland County, WI, Barron County, WI, Bayfield County, WI, Brown County, WI, Buffalo County, WI, Burnett County, WI, Chippewa County, WI, Clark County, WI, Door County, WI, Douglas County, WI, Dunn County, WI, Eau Claire County, WI, Florence County, WI, Forest County, WI, Iron County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Kewaunee County, WI, Langlade County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marinette County, WI, Menominee County, WI, Oconto County, WI, Oneida County, WI, Outagamie County, WI, Pepin County, WI, Pierce County, WI, Polk County, WI, Portage County, WI, Price County, WI, Rusk County, WI, Saint Croix County, WI, Sawyer County, WI, Shawano County, WI, Taylor County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI, Vilas County, WI, Washburn County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Wood County, WI

The radar

The Duluth radar (KDLH), 194 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:30 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
70%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
40%
Ten or more severe wind reports
70%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 3, 4:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBOneida49 min
Oct 3, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAshland, Iron31 min
Oct 3, 6:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPierce, Saint Croix53 min
Oct 3, 6:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDickinson, Menominee28 min
Oct 3, 7:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDunn, Pierce, Saint Croix41 min
Oct 3, 7:06 PM EDTTornado WarningMPXPierce, Saint Croix27 min
Oct 3, 7:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDelta, Menominee26 min
Oct 3, 7:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXWabasha32 min
Oct 3, 7:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce46 min
Oct 3, 7:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBLanglade, Marathon, Menominee, Shawano14 min
Oct 3, 8:07 PM EDTTornado WarningGRBLanglade, Menominee, Shawano23 min
Oct 3, 8:20 PM EDTTornado WarningGRBMarathon, Shawano25 min
Oct 3, 8:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBMenominee, Oconto19 min
Oct 3, 8:31 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTDelta, Menominee14 min
Oct 3, 8:44 PM EDTTornado WarningGRBMenominee, Shawano18 min
Oct 3, 9:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTBaraga, Dickinson, Iron, Marquette32 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 219 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 2018-10-03Temperature 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 2018-10-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 557 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
557 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
541 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 3, 3:31 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDickinson, Gogebic, Iron, Menominee89 min
Oct 3, 6:13 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Olmsted and 1 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2018Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2018Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2018Every tornado watch 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.