Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Detroit, MI

August 9, 1987Oakland County, Wayne County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 9, 1987, 4:49 PM EDT for Oakland County, Wayne County, Michigan. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 9, 1987, 4:49 PM EDT (20:49 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 1987, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Detroit, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Oakland County, MI, Wayne 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 29 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 12:00Z on 1987-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1987-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 194 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
199 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDTW 092049
TORDTW
MIC125-163-092115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT MI
449 PM EDT SUN AUG 9 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN...OAKLAND AND NORTHERN WAYNE

AT 438PM EDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SPOTTED AT TELEGRAPH AND I-696
EXPRESSWAY IN SOUTHERN OAKLAND COUNTY WHICH IS 16 MILES NORTHWEST
OF DOWNTOWN DETROIT. THIS FUNNEL WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT
AT 30 MILES AN HOUR WHICH SHOULD TAKE IT NEAR THE OAKLAND
AND WAYNE COUNTY BORDER.

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 BUILDING.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

DEEDLER/ZALESKI

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.