Alert archive / Michigan / Flash Flood Warnings in 1995

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

August 17, 1995Kent County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this flash flood warning at Aug 17, 1995, 4:49 PM EDT for Kent County, Michigan. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 1995, 4:49 PM EDT (20:49 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1995, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Kent County, MI

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 261 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1995-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 634 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1995-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
634 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 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 172052 COR
FFWGRR
MIC081-172245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
449 PM EDT THU AUG 17 1995

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

   ...SOUTHERN KENT COUNTY

AT 450 PM EDT... WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN KENT COUNTY FROM THE GRAND RAPIDS
METROPOLITAN AREA SOUTH TO CUTLERVILLE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST
AT AROUND 20 MPH AND WILL AFFECT SOUTHERN KENT COUNTY THROUGH 530 PM.
THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED RAINFALL TOTALS IN EXCESS OF TWO INCHES SINCE
415 PM.


DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOU TO CROSS SAFELY.
VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY... AND
YOU SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

CORRECTED EXPIRATION/TRH

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Aug 17, 4:05 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
MIZ051-056>058-064-065-071-072-172200-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
405 PM EDT THU AUG 17 1995

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

AT 405 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A BROKEN LINE OF
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...FROM NEWAYGO
COUNTY...SOUTH ALONG THE OTTAWA/KENT COUNTY LINE...AND FARTHER SOUTH
INTO KALAMAZOO COUNTY. THE STORMS WITH THE HEAVIEST RAIN WERE OCCURRING
NEAR GRANT IN NEWAYGO COUNTY...TO MARNE AND WALKER ALONG THE OTTAWA
KENT COUNTY BORDER...AND IN SOUTHEAST KALAMAZOO COUNTY NEAR INDIAN LAKE
AND SCOTTS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 20
MILES PER HOUR AND WILL AFFECT HOWARD CITY IN MONTCALM COUNTY...THE
GRAND RAPIDS METROPOLITAN AREA...AND EASTERN KALAMAZOO COUNTY JUST WEST
OF BATTLE CREEK.

PEOPLE IN THE AFFECTED AREAS WILL EXPERIENCE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS
WHICH WILL MAKE DRIVING HAZARDOUS AS THE EVENING RUSH HOUR APPROACHES.
IN ADDITION TO VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS.

WHEN A THUNDERSTORM THREATENS SEEK SHELTER INDOORS. IF DRIVING...
SLOW DOWN AND BE PREPARED FOR HEAVY DOWNPOURS THAT MAY REDUCE
VISIBILITY AND CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON THE ROADWAYS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 5:25 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGRRKent81 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Michigan, 1995Every flash flood warning in 1995

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.