Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Grand Rapids, MI
NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 9, 1987, 1:18 PM EDT for Ionia County, Michigan. It was in force for 27 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 9, 1987, 1:18 PM EDT (17:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 9, 1987, 1:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 27 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Rapids, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
County Ionia 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, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 136 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGRR 091718 TORGRR MIC067-091745- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 118 PM EDT THU JUL 9 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...IONIA AT 110 PM EDT...IONIA COUTNY CIVIL DEFENSE REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE CITY OF IONA AT HYNOR RD. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH AND HAS ALSO PRODUCED ONE HALF INCH HAIL. IF YOU LIVE IN THE CITIES OF IONIA...LYONS...MUIR AND PEWAMO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. DO NOT STAY IN A CAR OR MOBILE HOME..FIND A STURDY SHELTER OR LIE FLAT IN A DITCH OR RAVINE. CARLE
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, Jul 9, 12:16 PM EDT, 1 hour 2 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, 56 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 12:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Ionia, Kent | 28 min |
| Jul 9, 12:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Gratiot | 62 min |
| Jul 9, 12:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Isabella | 69 min |
| Jul 9, 1:43 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GRR | Gratiot | 2 hr |
| Jul 9, 2:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Isabella | 18 min |
| Jul 9, 3:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Calhoun | 59 min |
| Jul 9, 3:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Kalamazoo | 33 min |
| Jul 9, 3:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Clinton | 57 min |
| Jul 9, 3:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Eaton, Ingham | 60 min |
| Jul 9, 4:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Ingham | 33 min |
| Jul 9, 7:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Ionia, Kent | 24 min |
| Jul 9, 7:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR | Ionia, Kent | 30 min |
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.