Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Detroit, MI

September 10, 1986Oakland County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this tornado warning at Sep 10, 1986, 8:01 PM EDT for Oakland County, Michigan. It was in force for 44 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Sep 10, 1986, 8:01 PM EDT (00:01 UTC)
Expired: Sep 10, 1986, 8:45 PM EDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Detroit, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Oakland County, MI

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 10, 8:35 PM EDT	Hail 1	Oakland, MI

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KFNT), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 8 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 200 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 661 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 307 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDTW 110001
TORDTW
MIC125-110045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT MI
801 PM EDT WED SEP 10 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN...OAKLAND

AT 755 PM A TORNADO TOOK SOME ROOFS OFF OF BUILDINGS AT THE GM
PROVING GROUND IN MILFORD MICHIGAN. RADAR SHOWS THE TORNADO MOVING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR A
REINFORCED BUILDFING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..COMMERCIAL
RADIO..OR TELEVISION FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

What forecasters said that day

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 10, 4:52 PM EDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLINT MI
445 PM EDT WED SEP 10 1986

           ...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TONIGHT...

.THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF
THE KIH-29 LISTENING AREA FOR TONIGHT. HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY AS A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDING
ACROSS THE STATE KICKS OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT.

.RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE AREA WITH
POSSIBLE LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS IN SOME AREAS. CURRENTLY WEATHER
RADAR INDICATES A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND SCATTERED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS MOST OF CENTRAL..AND SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN AND SOUTHERN
LAKE MICHIGAN. THE PRECIP IS MOVING IN AN EASTERLY DIRECTION AT AROUND
15 MPH.

.SHOULD CONDITIONS DETERIORATE FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS WILL BE
ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..OR LOCAL TELEVISION AND
COMMERCIAL RADIO STATIONS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON THIS POTENTIALLY
DANGEROUS SITUATION.

DICKS

Special weather statement, Sep 10, 4:53 PM EDT, 3 hours 8 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANN ARBOR MI
445 PM EDT WED SEP 10 1986

...FLOOD WATCH ISSUED FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN FOR
   TONIGHT...

A FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF LOWER MICHIGAN NORTH OF
A LINE FROM HOLLAND TO PORT HURON. MUCH OF THIS AREA HAS ALREADY
RECEIVED 2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN TODAY. THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT
MUCH OF THE AREA WILL RECEIVE ANOTHER 2 TO 3 INCHES TONIGHT.

PERSONS NEAR SMALL STREAMS AND IN LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY.

MOTORISTS SHOULD BE CAUTIOUS AND AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SLIPPERY..WATER COVERED ROADS.

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN WESTERN IOWA HAS BEEN PRODUCING
STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS THAT HAVE BEEN BRINGING LARGE AMOUNTS OF WATER
FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO. VERY WARM AIR HAS ALSO BEEN FLOWING INTO
THE AREA. THIS WILL CONTINUE PRODUCING NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAIN FOR MUCH OF TONIGHT.

PLEASE STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION OR TO THE
NEAREST NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS.

DGH

The office that day

Everything else NWS Detroit, MI issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 10, 8:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Genesee	59 min
Sep 10, 8:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Macomb	34 min
Sep 11, 7:30 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	DTX	Tuscola	3 hr
Sep 11, 7:08 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	DTX	Saginaw	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1986 Every tornado warning in 1986 Tornadoes in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.