Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Marquette, MI

July 11, 1987Alger County, Delta County, Marquette County, Michigan

NWS Marquette, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 11, 1987, 4:06 PM EDT for Alger County, Delta County, Marquette County, Michigan. It was in force for 69 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
Jul 11, 1987, 4:06 PM EDT (20:06 UTC)
Expired
Jul 11, 1987, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Marquette, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Alger County, MI, Delta County, MI, Marquette 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 11, 4:25 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Delta, 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

Sault Ste Marie, MI (KSSM), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 208 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, Sault Ste Marie, MI at 12:00Z on 1987-07-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 271 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, Sault Ste Marie, MI at 12:00Z on 1987-07-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 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
271 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
698 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMQT 112006
SVRMQT
MIC103-003-041-112115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
406 PM EDT SAT JUL 11 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND 
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE 
FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTH CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN...MARQUETTE...ALGER AND DELTA
...THIS WARNING ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS FOR THE
COUNTIES JUST MENTIONED

AT 4 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
FROM A POINT 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MARQUETTE TO IRON MOUNTAIN.
THE STORMS IN THIS LINE WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR
.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORECED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND LIGHTNING.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND SOMETIMES DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING...SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

TE

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, Jul 11, 10:24 AM EDT, 5 hours 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1020 AM EDT SAT JUL 11 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EDT FOR WEST
UPPER MICHIGAN...

AT 1020 AM EDT...NO THUNDERSTORMS OR RAINSHOWERS WERE OVER UPPER
MICHIGAN.  HOWEVER...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE WERE
IN MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND WERE HEADED EAST FOR UPPER
MICHIGAN.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE
HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND OCCASIONALLY DO SPAWN A TORNADO.

TE
Special weather statement, Jul 11, 11:13 AM EDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1110 AM EDT SAT JUL 11 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EDT FOR WEST
UPPER MICHIGAN...

AT 1110 AM EDT...NO THUNDERSTORMS OR RAINSHOWERS WERE OVER UPPER
MICHIGAN.  HOWEVER...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE WERE
LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF IRONWOOD MICHIGAN...IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN
AND MINNESOTA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AND WILL
BE IN WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN BY 12NOON EDT.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE
HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND OCCASIONALLY DO SPAWN A TORNADO.

BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER DOES OCCUR.

DL0
Special weather statement, Jul 11, 1:54 PM EDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
150 PM EDT SAT JUL 11 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR WEST AND CENTRAL UPPER
MICHIGAN UNTIL 8 PM EDT...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS FOR WEST UPPER MICHIGAN COUNTIES
HAVE EXPIRED...

AT 145 PM EDT...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE STILL OVER WEST UPPER MICHIGAN
...LOCATED ALONG A LINE FROM HOUGHTON TO IRON MOUNTAIN AND MOVING
TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED YET.  HOWEVER...MOST OF THE STORMS
WERE MOVING OVER SPARCELY POPULATED AREAS.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING WINDS
...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL.

BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER OCCUR.

TE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 11, 11:42 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTGogebic, Ontonagon63 min
Jul 11, 12:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTBaraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Ontonagon69 min
Jul 11, 2:33 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTMarquette57 min
Jul 11, 2:46 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTHoughton, Keweenaw59 min
Jul 11, 3:32 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTMarquette28 min
Jul 11, 3:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDickinson, Menominee67 min
Jul 11, 4:36 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTDelta, Menominee54 min
Jul 11, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTSchoolcraft60 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.