Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 55, NWS Detroit, MI

July 20, 1987Washtenaw County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1987, 9:38 PM EDT for Washtenaw County, Michigan. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 1987, 9:38 PM EDT (01:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1987, 10:45 PM EDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Detroit, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Washtenaw 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 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 62 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 00:00Z on 1987-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2699 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1987-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
2699 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1702 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Jul 20, 4:30 PM EDT, 5 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLINT MI
430 PM EDT MON JULY 20 1987

     ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM EDT...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EDT THIS
EVENING FOR ALL OF EAST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN.

WEATHER RADAR INDICATES SOME WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWER AND THUNDERSHOWER
ACTIVITY IN THE THUMB AREA OF EAST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN..EAST AND
NORTHEAST OF FLINT. MOVEMENT IS SLOWLY TO THE EAST NORTHEAST.

A WEAK STATIONARY FRONT AND APPROACHING TROUGH WILL COUPLE WITH HIGH
TEMPERATURES AND AN ABUNDANCE OF MOIST AIR TO CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS IN EAST CENTRAL
LOWER MICHIGAN..AS WELL AS MOST OF THE REMAINDER OF THE LOWER
PENINSULA. THESE STORMS..WHEN SEVERE..CREATE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MILES AN HOUR..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..LARGE
HAIL..AND OFTEN SPAWN TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED AS OF YET..HOWEVER THERE EXISTS
THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA FOR THE
NEXT FEW HOURS. PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO MONITOR WEATHER
CONDITIONS CLOSELY BY LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..OR LOCAL
TELEVISION AND COMMERCIAL RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

KEITH DICKS
WSO FLINT MI
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 5:41 PM EDT, 3 hours 57 minutes before
-ARBSPSDTW
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT MI
530 PM EDT MON JULY 20 1987

AT 530 PM EDT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WERE
OVER SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. THE STORMS WERE OCCURRING AROUND THE DETROIT
METROPOLITAN AREA AND ITS SURROUNDING SUBURBS. REPORTS OF MARBLE SIZE
HAIL AND STRONG WINDS ACCOMPANIED SOME OF THE STORMS OVER INKSTER
MICHIGAN.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
BAILEY
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 6:05 PM EDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLINT MI
605 PM EDT MON JULY 20 1987

     ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM EDT...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EDT THIS
EVENING FOR ALL OF EAST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN.

AT 520 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEATHER RADAT SHOWED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. THE LINE
EXTENDED FROM 40 MILES NORTH OF HAUGHTON LAKE SOUTHWEST ACROSS LAKE
MICHIGAN.

HOUGHTON LAKE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN CRAWFORD
COUNTY... MOVING INTO ROSCOMMON COUNTY.  THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE PRODUCED A TORNADO WHEN THEY MOVED THROUGH GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY.

OTHER... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS... WITH HEAVY RAIN... WERE INDICATED
OVER SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AT 530 PM. THESE STORMS PRODUCED MARBLE
SIZE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS IN DETROIT SUBURBS.

PEOPLE IN EAST CENTRAL MICHIGAN ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN ALERT TO THE
POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNO0ON AND EVENING...
PARTICULARLY PEOPLE IN ARENAC... MIDLAND... AND BAY COUNTIES
CAN EXPECT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NEXT HOUR OR SO AS SEVERE WEATHER
MOVES FROM CLARE AND ISABELLA COUNTIES EASTWARD.

LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... DAMAGING WIND AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
CAN BE EXPECTED.  TAKE COVER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS.

STJ
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 9:09 PM EDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANN ARBOR MI
910 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987

...NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARCH NUMBER 405 HAS
   BEEN CANCELLED AS OF 910 PM EDT TONIGHT...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 405...IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EDT
TONIGHT HAS BEEN REDUCED TO A FEW REMAING COUNTIES AS THE POTENTIALLY
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE QUICKLY TO THE SOUTHEAST.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 405 REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM
EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWIMG COUNTIES...

..LOWER PENINSULA..
HURON
GRATIOT   SAGINAW   TUSCOLA   SANILAC
CLINTON   SHIAWASEE GENESEE   LAPEER  ST CLAIR

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH NUMBER 405 AS OF 910 PM EDT...

..LOWER PENINSULA..
ALCONA
IOSCO
CLARE     GLADWIN   ARENAC
MECOSTA   ISABELLA  MIDLAND   BAY
MONTCALM
OTTAWA    KENT      IONIA

STAY TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
STATION FOR FURTHER WEATHER UPDATES.

...DNR...
Local storm report, Jul 20, 9:15 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 8:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXLapeer66 min
Jul 20, 8:48 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXLivingston, Oakland57 min
Jul 20, 9:11 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXMacomb64 min
Jul 20, 9:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWayne53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1987Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.