Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

April 22, 1988Branch County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1988, 10:13 PM EDT for Branch County, Michigan. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 22, 1988, 10:13 PM EDT (02:13 UTC)
Expired
Apr 22, 1988, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Branch 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

Detroit, MI (KFNT), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 161 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, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 1988-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 1988-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2137 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
263 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 KLAN 230213
SVRLAN
MIC023-230315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING MI
1013 PM EDT FRI APR 22 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF LOWER MICHIGAN
      NORTHERN BRANCH

1005 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF BATTLE CREEK MOVING EAST
AT 45 MPH.  THE STORM WILL MOVE ALONG THE CALHOUN AND BRANCH COUNTY
LINE.  THE STORM SHOULD MOVE BETWEEN COLDWATER AND MARSHALL
MICHIGAN BETWEEN 1020 AND 1045 PM EDT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADWAYS QUICKLY...
AVOID DRIVING INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

 FORTUNE

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, Apr 22, 9:04 PM EDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
905 PM EDT FRI APR 22 1988

...PEA SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF PEA SIZE HAIL IN OTTAWA AND KENT
COUNTIES DURING THE PAST HALF HOUR. HAIL WAS REPORTED 8 MILES NORTH OF
HOLLAND OR ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND RAPIDS AT 830 PM EST.
HAIL HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED IN THE CITIES OF WYOMING...KENTWOOD AND
GRAND RAPIDS. THIS PEA SIZE HAIL IS COMING FROM THUNDERSTORMS THAT
ARE NOW MOVING THROUGH THE GRAND RAPIDS AREA. THERE WILL LIKELY BE
MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN
LATER TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.
BKR
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 9:14 PM EDT, 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
915 PM EDT FRI APR 22 1988

...HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN IN VAN BUREN COUNTY...

HEAVY RAIN AND 1/2 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED BY THE VAN BUREN COUNTY
SHERIFF DEPARTMENT AT 905PM EDT. THE HAIL WAS OVER THE SOUTHWEST CORNER
OF THE COUNTY OR ABOUT 30 MILE SOUTHWEST OF KALAMAZOO. THE THUNDERSTORM
PRODUCING THIS HEAVU RAIN AND HAIL IS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT
AROUND 40 AN HOUR. THIS MOVEMENT SHOULD TAKE THE THUNDERSTORM INTO
KALAMAZOO AND ALLEGAN COUNTY BETWEEN 930PM AND 1000PM EDT.
BKR
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 9:24 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
914 PM EDT FRI APR 22 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN....

AT 910 PM THIS EVENING RADAR SHOWS AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
IN IONIA COUNTY SOUTH INTO WESTERN EATON COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE
MOVING RAPIDLY AROUND 40 TO 45 MPH TO THE EAST NORTHEAST.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED PEA SIZE HAIL AS THEY MOVED THRU
GRAND RAPIDS AND ITS SUBURBS.

PERSONS IN THE COUNTIES OF EATON AND CLINTON CAN EXPECT HEAVY RAIBS
SMALL HAIL AND STRONG WINDS.
REISNER
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 9:42 PM EDT, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
940 PM EDT FRI APR 22 1988

...HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN IN VAN BUREN COUNTY...

HEAVY RAIN AND 1/2 TO 3/8 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED BY THE VAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 22, 10:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRKalamazoo15 min
Apr 22, 10:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRCalhoun60 min
Apr 22, 10:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRHillsdale27 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.