Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

May 30, 1989Van Buren County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1989, 6:07 PM EDT for Van Buren County, Michigan. It was in force for 48 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 30, 1989, 6:07 PM EDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired: May 30, 1989, 6:55 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Van Buren 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 30, 7:04 PM EDT	Tornado F1	Van Buren, 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 241 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 86 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 KGRR 302208
TORGRR
MIC159-302315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
607 PM EDT TUE MAY 30 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
          ...NORTHERN VAN BUREN
 
AT 604 PM EDT THE SHERIFF IN VAN BUREN COUNTY REPORTED A TORNADO ON
THE GROUND 10 MILES EAST OF SOUTH HAVEN IN GENEVA TOWNSHIP...THE
TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST. PERSONS IN NORTHERN VAN BUREN COUNTY
TAKE COVER NOW.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF INO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
REJK

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, May 30, 4:27 PM EDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
424 PM EDT TUE MAY 30 1989

   ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #358 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM EDT...
     ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH INGHAM COUNTY...

AT 420 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN CENTRAL
INGHAM COUNTY OVER THE CITY OF MASON OR 7 MILES SOUTH OF LANSING. SMALL
HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM
AS IT MOVES TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH.

Special weather statement, May 30, 5:53 PM EDT, 14 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
546 PM EDT TUE MAY 30 1989

   ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #358 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM EDT...
   ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN GRATIOT AND
      NORTHERN CLINTON COUNTIES...

AT 545 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A FEW VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHERN GRATIOT AND NORTHERN CLINTON COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND NUMEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES
SETTING OFF SENSITIVE ALARM DEVICES.

THE VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A LINE OF OTHER STRONG THUNDER-
STORMS STRETCHING FROM SAGINAW BAY SOUTHWEST TO 5 MILES NORTH OF ST.
JOHNS TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF IONIA.

ALL OF THE THUNDERST8ORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

KALLAS

Special weather statement, May 30, 5:56 PM EDT, 11 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CORRECTED...ADDED FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
555 PM EDT TUE MAY 30 1989

   ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #358 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM EDT...
                  ...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT...
   ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN GRATIOT AND
      NORTHERN CLINTON COUNTIES...

AT 545 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A FEW VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHERN GRATIOT AND NORTHERN CLINTON COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND NUMEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES
SETTING OFF SENSITIVE ALARM DEVICES.

THE VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A LINE OF OTHER STRONG THUNDER-
STORMS STRETCHING FROM SAGINAW BAY SOUTHWEST> TO 5 MILES NORTH OF ST.
JOHNS TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF IONIA.

ALL OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

KALLAS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 6:34 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Allegan	56 min
May 30, 6:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Kalamazoo	61 min
May 30, 6:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Calhoun	55 min
May 30, 7:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Jackson	61 min
May 30, 7:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan	59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes 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.