Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

May 15, 1986Branch County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1986, 7:20 PM EDT for Branch County, Michigan. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1986, 7:20 PM EDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1986, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Branch 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 161 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 1986-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1986-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 76 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
735 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLAN 152320
TORLAN
MIC023-160000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING MI
720 PM EDT THU MAY 15 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...BRANCH

AT 7 10 PM BRANCH COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO
TOUCHDOWN IN THE CITIES OF QUINCY...NEAR US 12 AND IN COLDWATER
AT INTERSECTION OF SOUTHWALL AND FISK.  DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  DO NOT STAY IN A CAR OR MOBILE HOME..FIND A REINFORCED
SHELTER OR LIE FLAT IN A DITCH OR RAVINE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:27 PM EDTTornado WarningGRRCalhoun33 min

Nearby

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