Alert archive / Michigan / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Detroit, MI

May 9, 1996Monroe County, Washtenaw County, Wayne County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this flash flood warning at May 9, 1996, 8:00 PM EDT for Monroe County, Washtenaw County, Wayne County, Michigan. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 9, 1996, 8:00 PM EDT (00:00 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1996, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Detroit, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Monroe County, MI, Washtenaw County, MI, Wayne County, MI

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 00:00Z on 1996-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 610 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, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 1996-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 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
610 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
534 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDTX 100002
FFWDTX
MIC115-161-163-100200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT PONTIAC MI
800 PM EDT THU MAY 9 1996
 
...FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AND SMALL STREAMS IS IN EFFECT FOR MONROE...
WASHTENAW...AND WAYNE COUNTIES UNTIL 10 PM...
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AND
SMALL STREAMS EFFECTIVE UNTIL 10 PM FOR MONROE COUNTY.  THIS INCLUDES
THE COMMUNITY OF MONROE.  IN ADDITION...THE FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AND
SMALL STREAMS HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 10 PM FOR WASHTENAW AND WAYNE
COUNTIES...INCLUDING THE COMMUNITIES OF ANN ARBOR AND DETROIT.
 
AT 755 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS...ACROSS WAYNE...MONROE
...AND WASHTENAW COUNTIES.  SINCE 7 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR
SHOWED THAT UP TO 1.5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS OCCURRED IN A NARROW BAND FROM
ADRIAN...ACROSS YPSILANTI...TO THE WEST SIDE OF THE CITY OF DETROIT.
THIS RAIN FELL OVER AREAS THAT HAD RECEIVED SOME TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS
DURING THE AFTERNOON.  REPORTS FROM THE PUBLIC INDICATED CONSIDERABLE
WATER OVER PARTS OF I-94 THROUGH WAYNE COUNTY...WITH SOME UNDERPASSES
FILLED WITH WATER.
 
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER WAYNE...WASHTENAW...AND
MONROE COUNTIES...WITH TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS AT TIMES RESULTING IN
VISIBILITIES TO NEAR ZERO.  BE SURE NOT TO DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS
WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW
YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.
 
SINCE THE HEAVIER RAINFALL WAS CONCENTRATED SOUTH OF OAKLAND AND
LIVINGSTON COUNTIES AT 755 PM...THE FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AND SMALL
STREAMS FOR THOSE COUNTIES WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.  THIS INCLUDES THE
COMMUNITIES OF HOWELL AND PONTIAC.  HOWEVER...RAIN AND AN OCCASIONAL
THUNDERSTORM MAY STILL RESULT IN ENOUGH RAIN TO PROVIDE FOR PONDING OF
WATER ON ROADS.
 
DJF

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, May 9, 2:14 PM EDT, 5 hours 46 minutes before
MIZ042>083-100500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
210 PAM EDT WED MAY 9 1996

...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR SOUTH HALF OF LOWER MICHIGAN...

THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON SOUTH A LINE
FROM MUSKEGON TO BAY CITY. AT 204 PM DIME SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED ON
M-59 ON THE OAKLAND...LIVINGSTON COUNTY LINE. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING
TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH AND MAY CONTAINj SMALL HAIL AND GUSTS TO 40 MPH.

STAY TUNED TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION SHOULD THERE BE A CHANGE IN THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IN
THE SOUTH HALF OF LOWER MICHIGAN.

DLK
Local storm report, May 9, 2:59 PM EDT, 5 hours 1 minute before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PONTIAC/DETROIT MI
259 PM EDT THU MAY 9 1996

TIME (EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS............
            ....COUNTY LOCATION....

200 PM     HIGHLAND                   MI  .75 INCH HAIL
5/9/96     OAKLAND                        REPORTED BY OAKLAND CO.
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

210 PM     WEST BLOOMFIELD.           MI  .75 INCH HAIL
5/9/96     OAKLAND                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

ZELL
Local storm report, May 9, 3:05 PM EDT, 4 hours 55 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED LOCATION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PONTIAC/DETROIT MI
305 PM EDT THU MAY 9 1996

TIME (EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS............
            ....COUNTY LOCATION....

200 PM     HIGHLAND                   MI  .75 INCH HAIL
5/9/96     OAKLAND                        REPORTED BY OAKLAND CO.
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

210 PM     HIGHLAND                   MI  .75 INCH HAIL
5/9/96     OAKLAND                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

ZELL
Local storm report, May 9, 4:56 PM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PONTIAC/DETROIT MI
455 PM EDT THU MAY 9 1996

TIME (EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS............
            ....COUNTY LOCATION....

350 PM     PLYMOUTH                   MI  .75 INCH HAIL
5/9/96     WAYNE                          REPORTED BY WAYNE CO
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

430 PM     SOUTHGATE                  MI  .75 INCH HAIL
5/9/96     WAYNE                          REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

435 PM     RIVER ROUGE                MI  .75 INCH HAIL
5/9/96     WAYNE                          REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

ZELL
Special weather statement, May 9, 7:27 PM EDT, 33 minutes before
MIZ082-100600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
725 PM EDT THU MAY 9 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 332 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THREE COUNTIES
IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN UNTIL 200 AM...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 332 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MONROE...LENAWEE
...AND HILLSDALE COUNTIES IN EXTREME SOUTHEST LOWER MICHIGAN.  THIS WATCH
IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM.

AT 725 PM... RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN
SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN FROM NEAR DETROIT TO MILAN TO WEST OF ADRIAN TO
NORTHERN INDIANA. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL CONTINUE
TO AFFECT EXTREME SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE~
EVENING.

STAY TUNED TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION CONCERNING SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL IN SOUTHEAST LOWER
MICHIGAN.

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Michigan, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.