Alert archive / Michigan / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

May 20, 1996Allegan County, Ottawa County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this flash flood warning at May 20, 1996, 7:52 PM EDT for Allegan County, Ottawa County, Michigan. It was in force for 4 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 20, 1996, 7:52 PM EDT (23:52 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1996, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Allegan County, MI, Ottawa County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:55 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 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 214 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 385 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 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 20, 5:06 PM EDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
MIZ066-067-073-074-079>081-210100-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
507 PM EDT MON MAY 20 1996

...TORNADO THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR MOST OF
SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN...

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED... AND IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM
EDT... FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN:
BRANCH... CALHOUN... EATON... HILLSDALE... INGHAM... JACKSON... AND
ST JOSEPH. A FEW COMMUNITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE BATTLE
CREEK... JACKSON... LANSING... COLDWATER... AND HILLSDALE.

AT 500 PM EDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF SHOWERS... WITH
IMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS... FROM LAKE MICHIGAN EAST-NORTHEAST THROUGH
CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN. IN ADDITION... INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE
LOCATED SOUTH OF THIS... ACROSS SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN. ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS EVENING...
AND SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF
TORNADOES.

REMEMBER... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN AND NEAR
THE WATCH AREA. BE ON THE WATCH FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND LISTEN TO
NOAA WEATHER RADIO... COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION.

TRH
Special weather statement, May 20, 6:26 PM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
MIZ066-067-073-074-079>081-210100-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
628 PM EDT MON MAY 20 1996

...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED...

THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR BRANCH... CALHOUN...
EATON... HILLSDALE... INGHAM... JACKSON... AND ST JOSEPH COUNTIES
HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

AT 625 PM EDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF SHOWERS... WITH
EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS... FROM LAKE MICHIGAN EAST-NORTHEAST THROUGH
CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN. THE STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT WERE
OVER THE WATCH AREA HAVE MOVED OUT OF LOWER MICHIGAN... THEREFORE
THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

ALTHOUGH THE WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED... ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS
COULD DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA LATER THIS EVENING. STAY TUNNED TO
NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

TRH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 3:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRCalhoun, Eaton24 min
May 20, 3:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIngham, Jackson51 min
May 20, 4:25 PM EDTTornado WarningGRRIngham, Jackson35 min

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.