Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Gaylord, MI
NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1987, 5:16 PM EDT for Osceola County, Michigan. It was in force for 29 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 20, 1987, 5:16 PM EDT (21:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1987, 5:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Gaylord, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
County Osceola 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, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 208 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3198 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 697 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 101 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMKG 202116 TORMKG MIC133-202145- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MUSKEGON MI 516 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF WEST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...NORTHERN OSCEOLA RADAR INDICATES A TORNADO MOVING INTO NORTHERN OSCEOLA COUNTY. 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. SPLITT
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
Local storm report, Jul 20, 11:31 AM EDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALPENA MI
1100 AM EDT MON JUL 20 1987
REPORT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM..SOUTHWEST ALPENA COUNTY..SUNDAY JULY 19
1905 EDT 2305Z SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HEAVILY DAMAGED BEAVER LAKE PARK..
20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALPENA. HEAVY DOWNPOUR WITH
SOUND OF FREIGHT TRAIN. STEADY INTENSE EAST WIND
RESULTED IN AT LEAST 60 TREES UPROOTED OR BROKEN OFF
NEAR BASE. MOST TREES 2 FEET OR MORE IN DIAMETER AND
NEARLY ALL FELL TOWARD THE WEST. TWO PEOPLE IN CAMPER
INJURED AND HOSPITALIZED. EXTENT OF INJURIES UNKNOWN
AT THIS TIME. ONE SHED DESTROYED.
TIM&E REPORTS INCONSISTENT. BEST ESTIMATE OF TIME OF
DAMAGE BETWEEN 1905 AND 1935 EDT.The office that day
Everything else NWS Gaylord, MI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 4:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Wexford | 55 min |
| Jul 20, 4:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Lake | 69 min |
| Jul 20, 4:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | APX | Kalkaska, Missaukee, Wexford | 33 min |
| Jul 20, 4:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | APX | Grand Traverse | 28 min |
| Jul 20, 5:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Oscoda | 53 min |
| Jul 20, 5:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Alcona, Oscoda | 63 min |
| Jul 20, 5:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Alcona, Iosco | 46 min |
| Jul 20, 6:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | APX | Alcona | 34 min |
| Jul 20, 6:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Alcona, Alpena, Iosco | 64 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.