Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

April 3, 1988Branch County, Calhoun County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 3, 1988, 3:25 PM EDT for Branch County, Calhoun County, Michigan. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 3, 1988, 3:25 PM EDT (19:25 UTC)
Expired
Apr 3, 1988, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Branch County, MI, Calhoun 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 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 12:00Z on 1988-04-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 87 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1988-04-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
87 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-93 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
910 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 3, 9:31 AM EDT, 5 hours 54 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Apr 3, 10:01 AM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Apr 3, 10:59 AM EDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1055 AM EDT SUN APR 3 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

AT 1050 AM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED IN A LINE EXTENDING FROM EASTERN MONTCALM COUNTY...SOUTH
THROUGH CENTRAL KENT COUNTY. THE SHERIFF IN KENT COUNTY REPORTED HAIL
FELL NEAR THE CITY OF KENT CITY...20 MILES NORTH-NORTHWEST OF GRAND
RAPIDS AS THE THUNDERSTOMS MOVED THROUGH THAT AREA AROUND 1045 AM EDT.
THE SIZE OF THE HAIL WAS NOT DETERIMINED.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 25 MPH
AND PRODUCEG BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL...WIND GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH...AND SMALL
HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

REK
Special weather statement, Apr 3, 1:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MUSKEGON MI
140 PM EDT SUN APR 3 1988

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS APPROACHING WESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN...

AT 130 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF RAIN WITH EMBEDED
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS
SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN. THE RAIN EXTENDED FROM JUST OFFSHORE
MUSKEGON SOUTH TO BERRIEN COUNTY OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTN$ING STRIKES...POSSIBLE SMALL
HAIL AND REDUCED VISIBILITY MAY BE ENCOUNTERED AS THIS AREA MOVES
INLAND. THE AREA WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND SHOULD
REACH MUSKEGON AND NEWAYGO COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS.

DUBRISH
Special weather statement, Apr 3, 2:35 PM EDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
235 PM EST SUN APR 03 1988

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

AT 225 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
OCCURRING IN VAN BUREN COUNTY. AN UNOFFICIAL REPORT OF 1 INCH HAIL
WAS RECIEVED IN VAN BUREN.

THESE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 45 MILES
AN HOUR AND SHOULD REACH SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN BETWEEN 330 PwM
AND 430 PM.

THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...
AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO
MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHER MOVES IN.
Special weather statement, Apr 3, 3:02 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
305 PM EST SUN APR 03 1988

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

AT 300 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE
OCCURRING IN KENT COUNTY. WIND GUSTS WERE REPORTED UP TO 59 MPH IN
SOUTHEAST OTTAWA COUNTY OVER THE PAST 30 MINUTES.

THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 45 MILES
AN HOUR AND SHOULD REACH ISABELLA...GRATIOT AND CLINTON COUNTIES
BETWEEN 330 PM AND 430 PM.

THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...
AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO
MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHER MOVES IN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 2:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRVan Buren34 min
Apr 3, 2:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRKent51 min
Apr 3, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRKalamazoo30 min
Apr 3, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRREaton65 min
Apr 3, 4:20 PM EDTTornado WarningGRRHillsdale25 min
Apr 3, 4:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRJackson49 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.