Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

May 31, 1989Branch County, Hillsdale County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1989, 5:33 PM EDT for Branch County, Hillsdale County, Michigan. It was in force for 57 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1989, 5:33 PM EDT (21:33 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1989, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Branch County, MI, Hillsdale County, MI

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 31, 6:10 PM EDTTornado F1Branch, MI

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KFNT), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 146 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 1989-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
500 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLAN 312135
SVRLAN
MIC023-059-312230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING MI
533 PM EDT WED MAY 31 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LANSING HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN
          ...BRANCH...HILLSDALE
 
AT 530 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EASTERN BRANCH
COUNTY 7 MILES EAST COLDWATER...30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF JACKSON MOVING
EAST NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THE STORM WILL MOVE TO THE TOWN OF HILLSDALE
BY 6 PM EDT.
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADcLY 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 ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, May 31, 4:38 PM EDT, 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
435 PM EDT WED MAY 31 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN TILL 10 PM...

AT 430 PM EDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE AGAIN OVER SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...
SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT
30 MPH.  THUNDERSTORMS WERE 12 MILES SOUTH OF BATTLE CREEK EXTENDING
SOUTHWEST TO NEAR SOUTH BEND INDIANA.  THESE STORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS
SOUTHERN CALHOUN COUNTY AND BRANCH COUNTY BETWEEN 430 AND 530 PM EDT.

ANOTHER CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE 30 MILES WEST AND NORTHWEST OF
BATTLE CREEK.  THESE WILL MOVE INTO THE BATTLE CREEK AREA BETWEEN
5 AND 6PM EDT.

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED -FROM HOLLAND MICHIGAN...60 MILES
NORTHWEST OF BATTLE CREEK... TO CHICAGO ILLINOIS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.
FORTUNE
Special weather statement, May 31, 5:17 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
508 PM EDT WED MAY 31 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN TILL 10 PM...

AT 505 PM EDT THUNDERSTORMS...WITH HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING...
WERE OVER SOUTHWEST LOWER.  ONE STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS 40 MILES SOUTH
WEST OF JACKSON...NEAR COLDWATER. HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING
WAS REPORTED AT COLDWATER.  THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN HILLSDALE
COUNTY NEAR LITCHFIELD.  ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS 40 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF LANSING...NEAR NASHVILLE MICHIGAN.  THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO
EATON COUNTY BY 530 AND TO THE CHARLOTTE AREA...15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
LANSING...BETWEEN 530 AND 545 PM THEN INTO THE= GREATER LANSING AREA
BETWEEN 6 AND 630 PM EDT.

FORTUNE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 8:06 PM EDTTornado WarningGRRAllegan, Kalamazoo46 min
May 31, 5:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRREaton41 min
May 31, 5:50 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGRRClinton, Eaton, Ingham2 hr
May 31, 6:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIngham64 min
May 31, 6:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIngham63 min
May 31, 6:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRClinton45 min
May 31, 6:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIonia24 min
May 31, 6:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRCalhoun32 min
May 31, 6:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRJackson57 min
May 31, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRHillsdale60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.