Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Detroit, MI

May 14, 1987Genesee County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1987, 3:56 PM EDT for Genesee County, Michigan. It was in force for 64 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 14, 1987, 3:56 PM EDT (19:56 UTC)
Expired: May 14, 1987, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Detroit, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Genesee County, MI

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 14, 4:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Genesee, MI

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KFNT), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 40 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 55 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -110 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1230 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 98 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 KFNT 141956 RRA
SVRFNT
MIC049-142100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLINT MI
356 PM EDT THU MAY 14 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN
          ...GENESEE
 
LARGE HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.*

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, May 14, 3:04 PM EDT, 52 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANN ARBOR MI
300 PM EDT WED MAY 14 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 93 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS OF
SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN FROM 315 PM EDT TO 900 PM EDT...

AT 255 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS
OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF LOWER MICHIGAN. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN
INCREASING IN BOTH AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OVER THE PAST HOUR.

THUS...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 93 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS
OF SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. THE WATCH WILL BE IN EFFECT FROM 315 PM
EDT...UNTIL 9 PM EDT. THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ST JOSEPH...
KALAMAZOO...LANSING...ANN ARBOR...FLINT...AND THE GREATER METROPOLITAN
DETROIT AREA.

THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING MAY PRODUCE DAMAGING
WINDS...HEAVY RAINS...AND LARGE HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES AND
STATEMENTS.

WAGENMAKER

Special weather statement, May 14, 3:25 PM EDT, 31 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE FLINT MI
325 PM EDT THU MAY 14 1987

        THUNDERSTORMS OVER EAST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN

RADAR SHOWS THUNDERSTORMS IN SAGINAW COUNTY... STRETCHING SOUTHWEST.
THESE WILL BE MOVING INTO NORTHWEST SHIAWASSE COUNTY SHORTLY.
RADAR INDICATED EAST MOVEMENT AT 25 MPH.

SHIAWASSE... GENESEE... AND LAPEER COUNTIES OF EAST CENTRAL LOWER
MICHIGAN ARE UNDER A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 900 PM EDT
THIS EVENING.

THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY PRODUCE DAMAGING
WINDS... HEAVY RAIN... AND LARGE HAIL.

JOHNSON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 14, 3:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Shiawassee	58 min
May 14, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Lapeer	60 min
May 14, 5:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Livingston, Oakland	66 min
May 14, 5:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Washtenaw	51 min
May 14, 5:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Macomb, Oakland, Wayne	64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1987 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.