Alert archive / Michigan / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

July 9, 1987Gratiot County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this flash flood warning at Jul 9, 1987, 1:43 PM EDT for Gratiot County, Michigan. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 9, 1987, 1:43 PM EDT (17:43 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1987, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Gratiot 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, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 115 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 1987-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1043 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 1987-07-09The 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
1043 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
612 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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 KLAN 091743 RRA
FFWLAN
MIC057-092000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING MI
143 PM EDT THU JUL 9 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...GRATIOT

AT 140 PM RADAR INDICATED VERY SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING
EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS SOUTHERN GRATIOT COUNTY.  WATER WAS
RISING QUICKLY WITH WATER LEVELS AT HUB CAP LEVEL 8 MILES SOUTH
OF ITHACA.   STRONG GUSTY WINDS HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED WITH TREES
AND POWER LINES DOWN.

IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNED COUNTY IN AN AREA SUBJECT TO FLOODING
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

FORTUNE

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 9, 12:16 PM EDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1215 PM EDT THU JUL 9 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE GRAND RAPIDS AREA...

AT 1205 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF KENT COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS. A REPORT OF WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH PER HOUR AND AN
INCH AND ONE HALF OF RAAIN IN FIVE MINUTES WERE ALSO RECEIVED

PERSONS IN SOUTHERN KENT COUNTY SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR BRIEF HEAVY
RAINS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND SOME STRONG WIND GUSTS/IN
THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

CARLE
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 12:22 PM EDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1215 PM EDT THU JUL 9 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE GRAND RAPIDS AREA...

AT 1205 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF KENT COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS. A REPORT OF WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH PER HOUR AND .72
INCHES OF RAINFALL IN FIVE MINUTES WERE ALSO RECEIVED.

PERSONS IN SOUTHERN KENT COUNTY SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR BRIEF HEAVY
RAINS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND SOME STRONG WIND GUSTS IN
THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

CARLKE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 12:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIonia, Kent28 min
Jul 9, 12:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRGratiot62 min
Jul 9, 12:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIsabella69 min
Jul 9, 1:18 PM EDTTornado WarningGRRIonia27 min
Jul 9, 2:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIsabella18 min
Jul 9, 3:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRCalhoun59 min
Jul 9, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRKalamazoo33 min
Jul 9, 3:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRClinton57 min
Jul 9, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRREaton, Ingham60 min
Jul 9, 4:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIngham33 min
Jul 9, 7:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIonia, Kent24 min
Jul 9, 7:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIonia, Kent30 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Michigan, 1987Every flash flood 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.