8/18 Wisconsin tornadoes

Wisconsin has had several smaller outbreaks earlier this year, so I would guess that 1) the record for tornadoes in a year in Wisconsin is in jeopardy, if not already broken

Current tornado count from 8/18 is 28 statewide (17 in the MKX CWA, equal to the statewide count from 6/23/04) http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/document/tor/081805.php

The several cluster outbreaks of weak tornadoes in central Wisconsin in early June totaled about 20-so that would be at least 48 for the year, a new record.

http://www.nislwx.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46
 
Well now we know that this has broken the one day record.

COMBINED WITH THE 5 CONFIRMED TORNADOES IN THE NWS GREEN BAY COUNTY
WARNING AREA...AND THE NWS LA CROSSE OFFICE REPORT OF 6 CONFIRMED
TORNADOES IN THE WISCONSIN PORTION OF THEIR COUNTY WARNING AREA...
THIS GIVES A TOTAL OF 28 CONFIRMED TORNADOES ON AUGUST 18TH IN
WISCONSIN.

THIS NUMBER SETS A NEW RECORD FOR THE MOST TORNADOES REPORTED IN ONE
DAY IN THE STATE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 24 TORNADOES SET ON MAY 8
1988.

NWS - http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/wi/public.html
 
Wisconsin has had several smaller outbreaks earlier this year, so I would guess that 1) the record for tornadoes in a year in Wisconsin is in jeopardy, if not already broken

Current tornado count from 8/18 is 28 statewide (17 in the MKX CWA, equal to the statewide count from 6/23/04) http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/document/tor/081805.php

The several cluster outbreaks of weak tornadoes in central Wisconsin in early June totaled about 20-so that would be at least 48 for the year, a new record.

http://www.nislwx.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46

Seeing the radar images those tornadic supercells don't seem so much strong from the point of view of reflectivity...It's true that this is not a sign of the strenght of the mesocyclone rotation but I did think to see something like a strong hook echo...I wann say that is pretty uncommon to observe a strong tornadic supercell with a similar hook echo. Besides I don't see a evident isolation of the supercells, typical of the main outbreak supercells.

It could be interesting to see the sounding of those zones but I cant' find it. Maybe it could be a strong minisupercell; Andy, did you observe the elevation of that supercell?
 
It was a pretty classic looking supercell in several stages (including near Viola and Stoughton) but frequently the torando became rain wrapped in other areas of S WI, leading to the appearance of poor overall structure. I can say from watching it from left to right across the state that it looked like your classic cyclic supercell from the Plains. There were hook echoes several times but you need to find those locations and also it is helpful to watch the event in its entirety so it is easier to pick out. There was one over Stoughton and one over Viola for sure (Brett Adair posted the smoothed image over Viola on another thread). Based on mean storm track calculations it deviated an average of about 45 degrees right of the mean storm motion. The g2g was nearly always strong across the entire state although it did get muddled in places.

This was an incredible outbreak, especially for a Slight Risk day -- it didn't look too impressive at the start and the instability certaintly wasn't high or extreme (with rain in the morning and clouds too).

...Alex Lamers...
 
Does anybody have GRLevel3 radar images from the Stoughton/Ft. Atkinson supercell?

Also, I'm still looking for SPC Mesoanalysis Maps from the event. Does anybody know where I could look for them, or does anybody have them, or do I have to wait for a case study by Jon Davies?

Thanks in advance! :D
 
You might try taking a look in the SPC's Severe T'storms Event archive, they save quite a bit of stuff from the day. Not sure if you can find mesoanalysis info though. Worth a shot though.
 
By the way...I bet this is the first year in recorded history we beat out Illinois' tornado count. Perhaps even Oklahoma's too. Certainly we beat Oklahoma's strong tornado count. :p

Viola area storm:

GRL3_ARX_10.png


GRL3_ARX_11.png


GRL3_ARX_velocity_2.png


GRL3_ARX_velocity_2_overlay.png


GRL3_ARX_velocity_3.png


GRL3_ARX_velocity_4.png


Stoughton storm about 10 minutes before all hell broke loose (little red + is my set "home" location-which is not 100% accurate but is close):

GRL3_MKX_32.png


GRL3_MKX_32B.png


GRL3_MKX_velocity_7.png


I find it kind of ironic that I just had the kind of experience that ignited the interest in tornadoes for many of you-yet for me the interest was already there.
 
I put together a composite chart based on archived data from OBS/Wind Profiler/NCEP Fronts/etc:



Kudos to all who got to chase this one, by the time I reliazed the mesoscale setup it was to late.

-Scott Olson
 
I first want to say that it was dissapointing to hear that someone died from this tornado. The man was even in his basement. I was leaving town(Madison) at 3 pm. I was on a trip to Ohio when I heard the news about the outbreak in WI. It figures that the day I leave the best opprotunity arrises. I have to believe there was some divine intervention going on there. I could see the supercell from Gary, IN!! I bet that thing was up around 50,000 ft. If you watch the radar loop of the entire event you can see that the same supercell was responsible for most of the tornadoes from Vernon county to Jefferson county. It was an amazing event. I still wished I was there. :cry:
 
I was disappointed I decided not to chase SW Wisconsin on Thursday, even though I watched it unfold all day. The post event "I should have"s were bothering me . But I am gun shy of that part of WI or any part for that matter. Lo and behold I get a call last night from someone I went to high school. He tells me he was in Stoughton on vacation and he filmed the tornado as it passed through and would I like to see it. What the #@!$% are you kidding. Like I always say, the best chases turn out to be the unplanned ones. He has always wanted to see a toenado and this was his first. I'm sure it left an impression.
Here is a link to the video.
http://www.creativejetstream.com/

Jerry Funfsinn
 
That is NO F-3 torando. You can see the debris falling from the sky on those folks in that video. This video needs to be sent to the Milwaukee NWS if it hasn't been already. I believe that is at least F-4 there.
 
"You can see the debris falling from the sky on those folks in that video."

I missed that section of Fujita's work on classifying storms ;>

Debris can fall from the sky from any sort of tornado, so disregarding the ground survey to add a notch on the scale is not warranted here.

- Rob
 
Well, that is a good distance away from the tornado. Indicates to me that the updraft is EXTREMELY strong. Also, there are photos from Stoughton of a home where it was completely demosished down to parts of the basement. That leans me more towards and F-4 rating in some locations.
 
Updraft intensity does not equal tornado intensity....

A house getting blown to bits doesn't neccesarily mean a F4/5 either.

Many factors are factored into determining the F-scale including condition/construction of the house.

Aaron
 
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