Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Detroit, MI
NWS Detroit, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 7, 1996, 5:03 PM EDT for Macomb County, Michigan. It was in force for 57 min. 1 report 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
- Jul 7, 1996, 5:03 PM EDT (21:03 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 7, 1996, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 57 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 21:04 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 5:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 95 | Sterling Heights, 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
Alpena, MI (KAPX), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 270 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
- 21 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -109 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 857 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 184 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 212 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KDTX 072103 TORDTX MIC099-072200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT PONTIAC MI 503 PM EDT SUN JUL 7 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DETROIT PONTIAC HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN ...MACOMB COUNTY AT 503 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR STERLING HEIGHTS. THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING THIS POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM WILL REACH THE FRASER AND ROSEVILLE AREAS BY 515 PM... AND THE ST. CLAIR SHORES AREA BY 530 PM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. CAMPBELL
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 7, 11:11 AM EDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before
MIZ016>083-081200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 1115 AM EDT SUN JUL 7 1996 ...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR MICHIGAN... THERE IS A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM NEAR STANDISH TO BATTLE CREEK. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. DISPATCHERS... PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE TO THE EAST ACROSS LOWER MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON... AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OUT AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD FROM STANDISH TO BATTLE CREEK EARLY THIS AFTERNOON... THEN MOVE EAST... REACHING THE DETROIT AND MONROE AREAS BETWEEN 2 AND 3 PM. THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE EAST AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR... AND THEY WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BRING WIND GUSTS TO 45 MILES AN HOUR... ALONG WITH PEA SIZE HAIL. BY 6 PM...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL lBE DIMINISHING ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. STAY TUNED TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL IN MICHIGAN. CAMPBELL
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 4:48 PM EDT, 15 minutes before
MIZ016>083-081200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 445 PM EDT SUN JUL 7 1996 ...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR MICHIGAN... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN THIS EVENING...MAINLY NEAR AND EAST OF A LINE FROM HOWELL TO MARLETTE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN HAIL UP TO 1 INCH...AS WELL AS WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH...HEAVY RAINS AND DEADLY LIGHTING. DISPATCHERS... PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE TO THE EAST ACROSS LOWER MICHIGAN THIS EVENING... WITH THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALONG THE COLD FRONT. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WILL BE OUT OF THE STATE BY 8 PM... WITH CELLS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.D STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AS NEEDED. REILLY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Detroit, MI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 3:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DTX | Genesee, Shiawassee | 47 min |
| Jul 7, 3:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DTX | Oakland | 69 min |
| Jul 7, 4:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DTX | Macomb | 69 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.