Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Gaylord, MI

August 16, 1988Wexford County, Michigan

NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1988, 9:09 AM EDT for Wexford County, Michigan. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1988, 9:09 AM EDT (13:09 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1988, 10:15 AM EDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Gaylord, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Wexford 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 201 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1988-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3414 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1988-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 158 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMKG 161309
TORMKG
MIC165-161415-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MUSKEGON MI
909 AM EDT TUE AUG 16 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF LOWER MICHIGAN
      WEXFORD

AT 907AM EDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY NEAR CADILLIC IN WEXFORD
COUNTY.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS 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.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

 TV 9 IN CADILLAC REPORTED A TORNADO IN THE VICINITY OF CADILLAC.
  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

 HYNES

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 16, 7:17 AM EDT, 1 hour 52 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 12:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXLuce65 min
Aug 16, 8:10 AM EDTTornado WarningAPXGrand Traverse, Leelanau65 min
Aug 16, 8:31 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXKalkaska59 min
Aug 16, 9:01 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningAPXGrand Traverse, Leelanau59 min
Aug 16, 9:01 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningAPXKalkaska59 min
Aug 16, 9:40 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXChippewa, Luce, Mackinac80 min
Aug 16, 11:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXCheboygan, Emmet60 min
Aug 16, 12:07 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXAntrim68 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.