Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Gaylord, MI

August 12, 1988Presque Isle County, Michigan

NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1988, 3:00 PM EDT for Presque Isle County, Michigan. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 1988, 3:00 PM EDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1988, 3:52 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Gaylord, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Presque Isle 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, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 124 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 1988-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 295 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 1988-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
295 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-323 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1130 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 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 KAPN 121900
TORAPN
MIC141-122000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALPENA MI
300 PM EDT FRI AUG 12 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF LOWER MICHIGAN
      SOUTHERN PRESQUE ISLE

AT 257 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF
DOWNTOWN ALPENA OVER WEST PRESQUE ISLE COUNTY...AROUND 3 MILES DUE
SOUTH OF THE CITY OF ONAWAY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 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.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

KAMINSKE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 3:18 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXAlpena57 min
Aug 12, 3:18 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXMontmorency34 min
Aug 12, 4:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXAlpena60 min
Aug 12, 7:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXAlpena, Presque Isle69 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.