Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Gaylord, MI

July 17, 1994Kalkaska County, Michigan

NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 1994, 6:59 PM EDT for Kalkaska County, Michigan. It was in force for 31 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 17, 1994, 6:59 PM EDT (22:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1994, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Gaylord, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Kalkaska County, MI

The nearest sounding before it

Sault Ste Marie, MI (KY62), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 208 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, Sault Ste Marie, MI at 12:00Z on 1994-07-17Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Sault Ste Marie, MI at 12:00Z on 1994-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
1232 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 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 KMKG 172259
TORMKG
MIC079-172330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MUSKEGON MI
659 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1994

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF LOWER MICHIGAN
      KALKASKA

AT 700PM... KALKASKA COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR
BEAR LAKE... 25 MILES EAST OF THE CITY OF KALKASKA AND IN THE
RURAL AREA 15 MILES SOUTH OF THE CITY OF KALKASKA.

NO TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS HAVE BEEN REPORTED. HOWEVER... CONDITIONS
ARE PRESENT FOR TORNADOS TO DEVELOP AT ANY MOMENT.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF
AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN
AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

 RESIDENTS IN KALKASKA COUNTY SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR TORNADO
 DEVELOPMENT DURING THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.

DUBRISH

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, Jul 17, 5:42 PM EDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
MIZ034-040-172245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUGHTON LAKE MI
542 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING INTO ROSCOMMON AND CLARE COUNTY...

AT 535 PM EDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO ROSCOMMON AND CLARE
COUNTIES. THE STORMS WERE LOCATED IN EXTREME NORTHWEST CLARE COUNTY
JUST ON THE CLARE...MISSAUKKEE COUNTY LINE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH AND WILL ENTER SOUTHWEST ROSCOMMON
COUNTY AND THE SOUTHWEST SHORE OF HOUGHTON LAKE AT 545 PM EDT.

THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY HAVE PRODUCED A TORNADO IN OSCEOLA COUNTY AT
ABOUT 500 PM AS IT MOVED NORTHEAST. PERSONS IN WESTERN ROSCOMMON COUNTY
SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS CLOSELY FOR THE NEXT HOUR AND BE
PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACH.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER UPDATES
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

KEITH DICKS

NNNN
Special weather statement, Jul 17, 5:42 PM EDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
MIZ034-040-172245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUGHTON LAKE MI
542 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING INTO ROSCOMMON AND CLARE COUNTY...

AT 535 PM EDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO ROSCOMMON AND CLARE
COUNTIES. THE STORMS WERE LOCATED IN EXTREME NORTHWEST CLARE COUNTY
JUST ON THE CLARE...MISSAUKKEE COUNTY LINE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH AND WILL ENTER SOUTHWEST ROSCOMMON
COUNTY AND THE SOUTHWEST SHORE OF HOUGHTON LAKE AT 545 PM EDT.

THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY HAVE PRODUCED A TORNADO IN OSCEOLA COUNTY AT
ABOUT 500 PM AS IT MOVED NORTHEAST. PERSONS IN WESTERN ROSCOMMON COUNTY
SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS CLOSELY FOR THE NEXT HOUR AND BE
PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACH.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER UPDATES
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

KEITH DICKS

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 4:27 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXOsceola78 min
Jul 17, 5:56 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXKalkaska64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.