Alert archive / Michigan / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 19, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

September 22, 1986Clinton County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this flash flood warning at Sep 22, 1986, 6:54 PM EDT for Clinton County, Michigan. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 22, 1986, 6:54 PM EDT (22:54 UTC)
Expired
Sep 22, 1986, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Clinton County, MI

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KFNT), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 99 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1986-09-22Temperature 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1986-09-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 364 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
557 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
364 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
360 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLAN 222254
FFWLAN
MIC037-230100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING MI
654 PM EDT MON SEP 22 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...CLINTON


INTENSE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AND MOVE SLOWLY
EASTWARD OVER NORTHERN CLINTON COUNTY.  THIS RAIN WILL FALL ON
ALREADY SATURATED GROUND..RESULTING IN IMMEDIATE RUN OFF AND FLASH
FLOODING.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR HAS BEEN
REPORTED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH OR FAST
MOVING CURRENTS. REMEMBER...MOST FATALITIES IN FLASH FLOODS OCCUR IN
AUTOMOBILES.

 BUNTING

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 22, 5:47 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
542 PM EDT MON SEP 22 1986

   ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHCENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...

AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHCENTRAL LOWER
MICHIGAN AT 535 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
WERE 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST JOHNS IN CLINTON COUNTY AND EXTENDED
NORTHWARD INTO SOUTHWEST GRATIOT COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
INCREASED RAPIDLY IN INTENSITY AND AREAL COVERAGE. THE STORMS WERE
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH.  PEOPLE IN NORTHERN CLINTON AND SOUTHERN
GRATIOT COUNTIES CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN..STRONG WINDS..AND POSSIBLY
SMALL HAIL AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE ACROSS YOUR AREA._ EXERCISE
CAUTION WHEN DRIVING IN AREAS OF INTENSE RAIN AND REDUCED VISIBILITY.

BUNTING
Special weather statement, Sep 22, 6:20 PM EDT, 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MUSKEGON MI
610 PM EDT MON SEP 22 1986

...RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST MUSKEGON AND SOUTH
WEST NEWAYGO COUNTIES OF WEST MICHIGAN..
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED RAPIDLY DURING THE LAST HOUR OVER MUSKEGON
AND NEWAYGO COUNTIES AND ARE MOVING SLOWLY TOWARDS THE EAST SOUTHEAST. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CAUSE BRIEF GUSTY WINDS..SMALL HAIL AND VERY HEAVY
RAINS DURING THE NEXT HOUR..DUE TO THE ALREADY WATER LOGGED GROUND AND
SWOLLEN RIVERS...RUNOFF COULD BE QUITE RAPID. IN ADDITION...UNDERPASSES
CAN FLOOD RAPIDLY.

PEOPLE ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION AND LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR
TELEVISION STATION OR NOAA RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

HYNES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 22, 6:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRClinton, Gratiot28 min
Sep 22, 7:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRClinton, Gratiot26 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Michigan, 1986Every flash flood warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.