Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Grand Rapids, MI
NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1987, 3:26 PM EDT for Clinton County, Michigan. It was in force for 54 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, 3:26 PM EDT (19:26 UTC)
- Expired
- May 14, 1987, 4:20 PM EDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Rapids, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clinton 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, 3:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Clinton, 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, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 99 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLAN 141926 SVRLAN MIC037-142020- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING MI 326 PM EDT THU MAY 14 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 420 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...CLINTON AT 320 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF LANSING...ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF ST JOHNS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM GO TO A REINFORCED BUILDING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. THEY CAN SPAWN TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. FORTUNE
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, 2:39 PM EDT, 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 239 PM EDT THU MAY 14 1987 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN... AT 235 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. THE HEAVIEST STORMS ARE OVER SOUTH KENT COUNTY...ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GRAND RAPIDS...AND SOUTHEAST OTTAWA COUNTY...ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND RAPIDS. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. SMALL HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THESE STORMS. MJK
Special weather statement, May 14, 3:13 PM EDT, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI 306 PM EDT THU MAY 14 1987 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN TILL 9 PM... AT 300 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM SAGINAW TO NEAR GRAND RAPIDS. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MPH. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY ACROSS GRATIOT COUNTY AND NORTHERN CLINTON COUNTY BETWEEN 3 AND 4 PM EDT. THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN BETWEEN JACKSON AND BATTLE CREEK. THESE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED RECENTLY AND WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL VERY LIKELY INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVE EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON. FORTUNE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 3:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Ionia | 34 min |
| May 14, 5:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Hillsdale | 33 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.