Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 28, NWS Gaylord, MI
NWS Gaylord, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1988, 12:58 PM EDT for Alpena County, Montmorency County, Michigan. It was in force for 62 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
- Aug 5, 1988, 12:58 PM EDT (16:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 5, 1988, 2:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Gaylord, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Alpena County, MI, Montmorency 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 12:58 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Alpena, MI | |
| Aug 5, 12:58 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Montmorency, 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, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 163 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
- 840 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -45 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 635 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 96 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, Aug 5, 8:52 AM EDT, 4 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUGHTON LAKE MI 748 AM EDT FRI AUG 5 1988 A VERY ACTIVE COLD FRONT WILL BE SLOWLY MOVING ACROSS LOWER MICHIGAN TODAY. CONDITIONS ARE RIPE FOR NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...SOME MAY BE SEVERE. THESE STORMS CAN AND DO FORM VERY RAPIDLY. EVERYONE SHOULD STAY ALERT...ESPECIALLY THOSE PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES...KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE ON THE SKY AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A PLACE OF $SAFETY.
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 11:45 AM EDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUGHTON LAKE MI 1140 AM EDT FRI AUG 5 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FROM NOON UNTIL 700 PM EDT... AT 1135 AM EDT A LARGE AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TOWARD THE HOUGHTON LAKE/HIGGINS LAKE AREA. THESE STORMS SHOULD BE IN THE HOUGHTON LAKE/HIGGINS LAKE AREA BETWEEN 1200 PM EDT AND 100 PM EDT. BE ALERT AND BE PREPARED FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND GUSTY WINDS.
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 12:08 PM EDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALPENA MI 1200 NOON EDT FRI AUG 5 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM EDT NORTH AND CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN... AT 1155 AM EDT WEATHER RADAR AT ALPENA INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAINS AND POSSIBLE HAIL ADVANCING EASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTH LOWER MICHIGAN AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THE STORMS WERE IN A LINE 20 TO 25 MILES WIDE FROM NORTH MECOSTA COUNTY NORTH NORTHEAST TO NEAR HOUGHTON LAKE IN ROSCOMMON COUNTY...TO 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF GAYLORD IN OTSEGO COUNTY. NO SEVER WEATHER HAD BEEN REPORTED AS OF NOONTIME...HOWEVER THIS IS A DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION AND YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE PREPARED TO TAKE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER APPROACH...TAKE SHELTER AT ONCE. REPORT ANY DAMAGE OR INJURIES TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE THREAT HAS PASSED. MONITOR YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATION OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR STATEMENTS AND POSSIB LE WARNINGS. KAMINSKE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Gaylord, MI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 12:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Alcona, Iosco, Oscoda | 62 min |
| Aug 5, 1:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | APX | Alpena | 64 min |
| Aug 5, 1:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Presque Isle | 55 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988
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.