Alert archive / Michigan / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

May 10, 1996Berrien County, Cass County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this flash flood warning at May 10, 1996, 8:30 AM EDT for Berrien County, Cass County, Michigan. It was in force for 7 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 10, 1996, 8:30 AM EDT (12:30 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1996, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Berrien County, MI, Cass County, MI

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 245 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 1996-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
946 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
130 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 101232
FFWGRR
MIC021-027-101900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
830 AM EDT FRI MAY 10 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN

   ...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN BERRIEN AND CASS COUNTIES

THE FLOOD WARNING FOR BOTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN BERRIEN AND CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN CASS COUNTIES HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH THE DAY
TODAY...AS FLOODING IS STILL OCCURRING THIS MORNING. THE HEAVIEST
PRECIPITATION HAS FALLEN ACROSS SOUTHERN BERRIEN COUNTY...WHERE 4.8
INCHES HAS FALLEN AT GLENDORA AND 5.0 INCHES AT NILES. LESSER
AMOUNTS WERE NOTED ACROSS NORTHERN BERRIEN COUNTY...WITH 2.5 INCHES
OF RAIN BEING REPORTED AT COLOMA. ALL OF THESE PRECIPITATION TOTALS
WERE FOR THE PAST 24 HOURS. NUMEROUS ROADS HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS
WATER COVERED ACROSS SOUTHERN BERRIEN COUNTY...WITH ROADS WASHED OUT
AS WELL. 

AT 825 AM EDT...GRAND RAPIDS DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THE AREA OF
THUNDERSTORMS THAT MOVED THROUGH SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN EARLIER
THIS MORNING HAD NOW MOVED INTO SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN. NO
PRECIPITATION IS BEING REPORTED ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS...SO
RAINFALL IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH MIDDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
COULD REDEVELOP LATER THIS AFTERNOON...SO YOU ARE URGED TO MONITOR
YOUR LOCAL MEDIA STATION AND NOAA WEATHER RADAR FOR FURTHER UPDATES
ON THIS FLOODING SITUATION. 

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. IF
FLOOD WATERS THREATEN YOUR LOCATION YOU SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER
GROUND. 

RJD
&

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 10, 5:45 AM EDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
MIZ064-065-071>073-077>080-101200-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
545 AM EDT FRI MAY 10 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF SOUTHWEST AND
SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN UNTIL 1000 AM...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE COUNTIES OF
ALLEGAN... BARRY... VAN BUREN... KALAMAZOO... CALHOUN... BERRIEN...
CASS... ST. JOSEPH... AND BRANCH UNTIL 1000 AM FRIDAY MORNING. THIS
INCLUDES THE COMMUNITIES OF SAUGATUCK... HASTINGS... SOUTH HAVEN...
KALAMAZOO... BATTLE CREEK... NEW BUFFALO... THREE RIVERS... AND
COLDWATER.

AT 540 AM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED
STRONG SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHING FROM MUSKEGON AND
HOLLAND... SOUTHEAST THROUGH GRAND RAPIDS AND IONIA... TO THE
LANSING AREA. SOME OF THESE STORMS CONTAINED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.
NORTH AND SOUTH OF THAT LINE... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUED... BUT MUCH WEAKER IN INTENSITY. THE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH.

A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS JUST DEPARTING THE MILWAUKEE
AND CHICAGO AREAS AND HEADING OUT OVER SOUTHWEST LAKE MICHIGAN AT
540 AM. THIS LINE OF STORMS SHOULD REACH NEW BUFFALO BY 615 AM...
THEN CONTINUE EAST TO HOPKINS... KALAMAZOO... AND THREE RIVERS BY
645 AM. THIS LINE OF STORMS COULD CONTAIN LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING
WINDS... AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. LOCALIZED FLOODING IS LIKELY WITH
SOME OF THESE STORMS.

IF SEVERE WEATHER IS OBSERVED... REPORT IT TO YOUR LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

DURING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH... BE READY TO MOVE TO A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR* POSSIBLE... IF A WARNING IS
ISSUED. THE KEY TO SURVIVAL IS ADVANCE PLANNING. KNOW WHERE
THE SAFEST AREAS OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS ARE... SUCH AS INTERIOR
ROOMS ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
MJK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 12:03 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRBerrien42 min
May 10, 12:11 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGRRBerrien, Cass3 hr
May 10, 3:08 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGRRBerrien, Cass5 hr
May 10, 2:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGRRBerrien, Cass6 hr

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.