Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Gaylord, MI
NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1988, 8:10 AM EDT for Grand Traverse County, Leelanau County, Michigan. It was in force for 65 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 16, 1988, 8:10 AM EDT (12:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1988, 9:15 AM EDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Gaylord, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Grand Traverse County, MI, Leelanau 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 189 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
- 3414 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -192 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1090 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 158 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 160 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMKG 161210
TORMKG
MIC089-055-161315-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MUSKEGON MI
810 AM EDT TUE AUG 16 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO AND SPECIAL
MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF LOWER MICHIGAN
CENTRAL LEELANAU...NORTHERN GRAND TRAVERSE
...THIS WARNING ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS FOR THE
COUNTIES JUST MENTIONED
AT 800AM EDT THE SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT IN LEELANAU COUNTY REPORTED
A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR THE 45TH PARALLEL IN LEELANAU COUNTY MOVING
SOUTHEAST.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THISK TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF
AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.
HYNESWhat 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 16, 7:17 AM EDT, 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUGHTON LAKE MI 715 AM EDT TUE AUG 16 1988 AT 715 AM EDT...AN AREA OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST OVER NORTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. THE LEADING EDGE OF THESE STORMS WAS APPROACHING THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF OTSEGO COUNTY...40 MILES NORTH OF HOUGHTON LAKE AND ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF GAYLORD. VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTING WIND...SMALL HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE SOUTHEAST OVER OTSEGO AND CRAWFORD COUNTIES. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Gaylord, MI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 12:15 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Luce | 65 min |
| Aug 16, 8:31 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Kalkaska | 59 min |
| Aug 16, 9:01 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | APX | Grand Traverse, Leelanau | 59 min |
| Aug 16, 9:01 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | APX | Kalkaska | 59 min |
| Aug 16, 9:09 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | APX | Wexford | 66 min |
| Aug 16, 9:40 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac | 80 min |
| Aug 16, 11:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | APX | Cheboygan, Emmet | 60 min |
| Aug 16, 12:07 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | APX | Antrim | 68 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.