Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

June 3, 1989Saint Joseph County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1989, 10:41 AM EST for Saint Joseph County, Michigan. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 3, 1989, 10:41 AM EST (15:41 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1989, 11:15 AM EST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Joseph 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, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 194 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 1989-06-03Temperature 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 1989-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 102 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1983 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 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 KSBN 031543
TORSBN
MIC149-031615-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
1041 AM EST (1141 AM EDT) SAT JUN 3 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SOUTH BEND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM EST (1215 PM EDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
          ...ST JOSEPH
 
AT 1140 AM EST...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THAT IS LIKELY
PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR THREE RIVERS AND CENTREVILLE INDIANA.
 
THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
SOME TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE PARKVILLE...MENDON...AND
FINDLEY MICHIGAN.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAIL	ABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, Jun 3, 9:21 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LANSING, MI
1017 AM EDT SAT JUN 03 1989

AT 1015 AM EDT A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING INTO EXTREME
SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN.  THE STORMS WERE ABOUT 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
BATTLE CREEK MICHIGAN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH.  HEAVY RAIN...
SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS.

IF THE STORMS MAINTAIN THEIR CURRENT MOVEMENT THEY WILL MOVE INTO THE
BATTLE CREEK AREA BETWEEN 11AM AND NOON THEN CONTINUE TO THE LANSING AND
JACKSON AREA BETWEEN 1PM AND 2 PM EDT.
FORTUNE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 3, 10:49 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRBranch, Calhoun51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.