Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Marquette, MI
NWS Marquette, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1987, 2:18 PM EDT for Delta County, Dickinson County, Menominee County, Michigan. It was in force for 57 min. 2 reports 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 20, 1987, 2:18 PM EDT (18:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1987, 3:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 57 min
- Issued by
- NWS Marquette, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Delta County, MI, Dickinson County, MI, Menominee 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2:55 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Dickinson, MI | |
| Jul 20, 3:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Delta, 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
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 154 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
- 3840 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 653 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 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 KMQT 201818 TORMQT MIC043-109-041-201915- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 218 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF SOUTH CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN...SOUTHERN DICKINSON...NORTHERN MENOMINEE AND SOUTHERN DELTA AT 215 PM EDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE POLICE 10 MILES WEST OF IRON MOUNTAIN MICHIGAN...MOVING EAST 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 20, 12:15 PM EDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 1215 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF WEST AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN UNTIL 5 PM EDT... AT 1205PM EDT...A 15-MILE-WIDE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING RAPIDLY EAST ACROSS WEST UPPER MICHIGAN AT ABOUT 40 MILES AN HOUR. THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS LINE WAS ABOUT 25 MILES EAST OF IRONWOOD. A RADIO STATION ON IRONWOOD REPORTED A 20 DEGREE TEMPERATURE DROP AS THE THUNDERSTORMS PASSED WITH HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA. ALSO...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCES WINDS IN EXCESS OF' 58 MPH AND/OR HAIL OF 3/4 INCH OR GREATER. TE
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 12:34 PM EDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 1233 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF WEST AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN UNTIL 5 PM EDT... AT 1230PM EDT...A 25-MILE-WIDE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING RAPIDLY EAST ACROSS WEST UPPER MICHIGAN AT ABOUT 40 MILES AN HOUR. THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS LINE WAS ABOUT 40 MILES EAST OF IRONWOOD AND 15 MILES WEST OF HOUGHTON. NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS IN UPPER MICHIGAN...YET. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA. ALSO...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCES WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH ANDK/OR HAIL OF 3/4 INCH OR LARGER IN DIAMETER. TE
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 1:34 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 135 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1987 AT 130 PM EDT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR GREEN BAY WISCONSON. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE FROSM LANSE MICHIGAN THROUGH IRON RIVER MICHIGAN TO NEAR WAUSAU WISCONSIN. ALL THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. FK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Marquette, MI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Dickinson, Marquette, Menominee | 58 min |
| Jul 20, 2:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Delta | 58 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.