Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Indianapolis, IN

September 21, 1987Berrien County, Michigan

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Sep 21, 1987, 1:47 PM EDT for Berrien County, Michigan. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 21, 1987, 1:47 PM EDT (17:47 UTC)
Expired
Sep 21, 1987, 2:30 PM EDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Berrien 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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 262 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 1987-09-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-09-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 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 KSBN 211748
TORSBN
MIC021-211830-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION AND IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
1247 PM EST MON SEP 21 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 130 PM EST FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN... BERRIEN
 
BERRIEN COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED A BRIEF TOUCHDOWN OF A
FUNNEL CLOUD AT GLENLORD ROAD AND RED ARROW HIGHWAY NEAR STEVENSVILLE
MICHIGAN AT 1235 PM EST.  THE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS MOVING NORTHEAST.
 
RADAR AT 1240 PM EST INDICATED A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM  NEAR
STEVENSVILLE MICHIGAN...20 MILES NORTHWEST OF SOUTH BEND. THE
THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.
 
SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.  GO TO YOUR BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET OR BATHROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  AVOID WINDOWS
AND PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING GLASS AND DEBRIS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED]
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
MOWERY

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 21, 8:24 AM EDT, 5 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR DENSE FOG NORTHERN INDIANA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
725 AM EST MON SEP 21 1987

DENSE FOG WILL HAMPER TRAVEL OVER EXTREME NORTHERN INDIANA UNTIL
AROUND 9 AM THIS MORNING.

SLOW DOWN WHEN DRIVING IN DENSE FOG AND TURN ON YOUR HEADLIGHTS.

DENSE FOG WAS REPORTED ALONG THE INDIANA TOLL ROAD FROM THE OHIO
STATE LINE TO NEAR VALPARAISO SHORLY AFTER 7 AM. SOUTH BEND HAD
A VISIBILITY OF 1/8 MILE.

VISIBILITIES OF 3/8 MILE TO 1 MILE WERE REPORTED IN OTHER PARTS
OF NORTHERN INDIANA.

DS

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.