Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Detroit, MI

September 17, 1987Macomb County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 1987, 8:02 PM EDT for Macomb County, Michigan. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 17, 1987, 8:02 PM EDT (00:02 UTC)
Expired
Sep 17, 1987, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Detroit, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Macomb 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, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1987-09-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 389 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1987-09-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
389 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1029 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-16 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 KDTW 180002
TORDTW
MIC099-147-180030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT MI
802 PM EDT THU SEP 17 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN...EASTERN MACOMB AND WESTERN ST. CLAIR

AT 755PM EDT REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS IN AND AROUND ROMEO IN WESTERN
MACOMB COUNTY OR 33 MILES NORTH OF DOWNTOWN DETROIT. THESE FUNNELS
E MOVING NORTHEAST INTO EASTERN MACOMB AND WESTERN ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAsVY
RAIN AND LIGHTNING.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

KOWALESKI/DEEDLER

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

Special weather statement, Sep 17, 6:46 PM EDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLINT MI
645 PM EDT THU SEPT 17 1987

  ... STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ENTERING EAST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...

AT 635 PM EDT DETROIT WEATHER RADAR INDICATES A LINE OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS ENTERING EAST CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN. THE STORMS CONTAIN
VERY HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY WINDS..AND ISOLATED AREAS OF PEA SIZED HAIL.
THE STORMS EXTEND IN A LINE FROM 15 MILES EAST OF LANSING TO THE
SUBURBS OF DETROIT..TO TOLEDO OHIO..WITH THE LINE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST
AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. INDIVIDUAL STORMS ARE MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 30
MILES AN HOUR.

THE STORMS WILL ENTER GENESEE COUNTY IN THE NEXT HALF HOUR AND PERSONS
IN THEIR PATH CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAINS..STRONG GUSTY WINDS..HAIL..
AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE STORMS AS OF THIS TIME..
HOWEVER..PERSONS SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..OR LOCAL
TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS FOR UPDATES OR POSSIBLE W ARNINGS SHOULD
THESE THUNDERSTORMS BECOME SEVERE.

DICKS

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.