Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Gaylord, MI
NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 5, 1988, 1:11 PM EDT for Alpena County, Michigan. It was in force for 64 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 5, 1988, 1:11 PM EDT (17:11 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 5, 1988, 2:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Gaylord, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
County Alpena 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
Sault Ste Marie, MI (KSSM), launched 12:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 169 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
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KARB 051711
TORAPN
MIC007-051815-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALPENA MI
ISSUED BY ANN ARBOR MI
111 PM EDT FRI AUG 5 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO AND SPECIAL
MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING COUNTY
IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF LOWER MICHIGAN
ALPENA
...THIS WARNING ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS FOR THE
COUNTY JUST MENTIONED
AT 1255 PM EDT A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS SIGHTED 10 MILES WEST NORTH
WEST OF PHELPS COLLINS ARIPORT... IT WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT
30 MPH. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
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.
...DNR...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, Aug 5, 8:52 AM EDT, 4 hours 19 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 26 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, 1 hour 3 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, 12:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Alpena, Montmorency | 62 min |
| Aug 5, 1:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Presque Isle | 55 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.