Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Marquette, MI

July 11, 1987Houghton County, Keweenaw County, Michigan

NWS Marquette, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 11, 1987, 2:46 PM EDT for Houghton County, Keweenaw County, Michigan. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 11, 1987, 2:46 PM EDT (18:46 UTC)
Expired
Jul 11, 1987, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Marquette, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Houghton County, MI, Keweenaw 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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 297 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1987-07-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2044 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1987-07-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
2044 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
563 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 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 KMQT 111846
TORMQT
MIC083-061-111945-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
246 PM EDT SAT JUL 11 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO AND SPECIAL 
MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE 
FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHWEST UPPER MICHIGAN...KEWEENAW AND HOUGHTON
...THIS WARNING ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS FOR THE
COUNTIES JUST MENTIONED

AT 245 PM EDT STATE POLICE REPORT A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
10 MILES NORTHEAST OF HOUGHTON MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 40
MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

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

TE

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 11, 10:24 AM EDT, 4 hours 22 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, 3 hours 33 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, 52 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, 3:32 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTMarquette28 min
Jul 11, 3:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDickinson, Menominee67 min
Jul 11, 4:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTAlger, Delta, Marquette69 min
Jul 11, 4:36 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTDelta, Menominee54 min
Jul 11, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTSchoolcraft60 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.