Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Gaylord, MI

July 20, 1987Alcona County, Michigan

NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1987, 6:26 PM EDT for Alcona County, Michigan. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 1987, 6:26 PM EDT (22:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1987, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Gaylord, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Alcona 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

Sault Ste Marie, MI (KSSM), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 209 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, Sault Ste Marie, MI at 12:00Z on 1987-07-20Temperature 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, Sault Ste Marie, MI at 12:00Z on 1987-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 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
684 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-61 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 KAPN 202237 COR
TORAPN
MIC001-202300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALPENA MI
626 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN...NORTHWEST ALCONA...

AT 620 PM EDT A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR SEVEN MILES
NORTHWEST OF BARTON IN NORTHWEST ALCONA COUNTY MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING3.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

KAMINSKE

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, 4:57 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXGrand Traverse28 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, 6:56 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.