Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

April 12, 1996Cass County, Van Buren County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 12, 1996, 12:53 PM EST for Cass County, Van Buren County, Michigan. It was in force for 67 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
Apr 12, 1996, 12:53 PM EST (17:53 UTC)
Expired
Apr 12, 1996, 2:00 PM EST
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cass County, MI, Van Buren County, MI

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 12, 1:30 PM ESTHail 1.25Union, 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, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 234 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 1996-04-12Temperature 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 1996-04-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 144 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1032 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 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 121756
SVRGRR
MIC027-159-121900-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
153 PM EDT FRI APR 12 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN
 
   ...CASS COUNTY...VAN BUREN COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN...
 
 
AT 150 PM EDT... WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST SOUTHWEST OF NILES TO NORTHWEST OF
BENTON HARBOR. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 40 KNOTS. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM
THESE STORMS IS LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. THIS LINE WILL REACH FROM
CASSOPOLIS TO JUST WEST OF BANGOR BY 220 PM.
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA
SHOULD GET INTO A REINFORCED SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING
WINDS... LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
 
 
DCZ

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, Apr 12, 12:06 PM EST, 47 minutes before
MIZ064>067-071>074-077>081-121905-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
104 PM EDT FRI APR 12 1996

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
LOWER MICHIGAN...

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR BRANCH... CALHOUN... EATON...
HILLSDALE... INGHAM... JACKSON... ALLEGAN... BARRY... BERRIEN...
CASS... KALAMAZOO... ST. JOSEPH... AND VAN BUREN COUNTIES IN SOUTHERN
LOWER MICHIGAN... EFFECTIVE UTIL 700 PM EDT.  SOME COMMUNITIES IN THIS
WATCH INCLUDE BENTON HARBOR... SOUTH HAVEN... BATTLE CREEK...
LANSING... EATON RAPIDS... HASTINGS...  AND HOLLAND.

AT 100 PM... WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS REACHED FROM HOUGHTON LAKE SOUTHWEST TO
CHICAGO. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO
EFFECT PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL THEN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN THROUGH
300 PM.

DURING A TORNADO WATCH... BE READY TO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW
GROUND... OR TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR...
IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR IF A TORNADO IS SIGHTED.

DCZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 12, 8:06 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRMuskegon, Newaygo, Oceana69 min
Apr 12, 11:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRMason, Oceana50 min
Apr 12, 12:11 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRMuskegon, Newaygo, Oceana64 min
Apr 12, 12:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRBerrien41 min
Apr 12, 1:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRKalamazoo, Saint Joseph50 min
Apr 12, 1:43 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRClinton32 min
Apr 12, 1:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRBranch63 min
Apr 12, 2:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRHillsdale69 min
Apr 12, 4:03 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRROttawa42 min
Apr 12, 4:48 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRAllegan, Ottawa42 min
Apr 12, 5:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIonia32 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.