Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Gaylord, MI

July 20, 1987Grand Traverse County, Michigan

NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1987, 4:57 PM EDT for Grand Traverse County, Michigan. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 1987, 4:57 PM EDT (20:57 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1987, 5:25 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Gaylord, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Grand Traverse 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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 203 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 1987-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3840 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1987-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3840 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
653 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 KMKG 202057
TORMKG
MIC055-079-165-113-202130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MUSKEGON MI
457 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...SOUTHEAST GRAND TRAVERSE...KALKASKA...
 WEXFORD AND MISSAUKEE

A TORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN SOUTHEAST GRAND TRAVERSE COUTNY
TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

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.

BOLEN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXGrand Traverse, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Wexford55 min
Jul 20, 4:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXLake69 min
Jul 20, 4:57 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXKalkaska, Missaukee, Wexford33 min
Jul 20, 5:16 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXOsceola29 min
Jul 20, 5:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXOscoda53 min
Jul 20, 5:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXAlcona, Oscoda63 min
Jul 20, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXAlcona, Iosco46 min
Jul 20, 6:26 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXAlcona34 min
Jul 20, 6:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXAlcona, Alpena, Iosco64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.