Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Detroit, MI
NWS Detroit, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1996, 5:01 PM EDT for Macomb County, Michigan. It was in force for 59 min. 3 reports 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 20, 1996, 5:01 PM EDT (21:01 UTC)
- Expired
- May 20, 1996, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Detroit, MI
- Area
- Whole counties
County Macomb County, MI
The radar
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:05 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 5:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Sterling Heights, MI | |
| May 20, 5:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Macomb, MI | |
| May 20, 5:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Harrison Twp, 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 43 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 385 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 956 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 37 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 97 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 20, 11:48 AM EDT, 5 hours 13 minutes before
MIZ040-083-211200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 1140 AM EDT MON MAY 20 1996 ...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR MICHIGAN... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS IMMEDIATELY. FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN...SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR ALONG A STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY STRETCHING FROM NEAR HOLLAND...NORTHEAST TO NEAR LANSING AND FLINT EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. MEANWHILE...A LARGER AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO MOVE FROM LAKE MICHIGAN EAST ACROSS SOUTHERN MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON. THE STORMS WILL REACH THE EAST SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN BY 1 PM...AND WILL REACH SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN BY 4 PM. LOCALIZED HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS...SO A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN. IN ADDITION...THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...WITH LOCALIZED WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH OR INCH DIAMETER HAIL. THE STORMS WILL MOVE TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH. STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION... INCLUDING ANY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES OR WARNINGS. MSE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Detroit, MI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 4:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | DTX | Livingston, Washtenaw | 52 min |
| May 20, 4:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DTX | Oakland | 52 min |
| May 20, 5:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DTX | Saint Clair | 36 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1996Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.