Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

January 18, 1996Clinton County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 18, 1996, 6:15 PM EST for Clinton County, Michigan. It was in force for 20 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 18, 1996, 6:15 PM EST (23:15 UTC)
Expired
Jan 18, 1996, 6:35 PM EST
In force
20 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Clinton County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:15 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 1996-01-18Temperature 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 1996-01-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 164 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
733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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 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, Jan 18, 1:45 PM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
MIZ056-057-064-065-071>073-080-182045-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
145 PM EST THU JAN 18 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST FOR THE
SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN COUNTIES OF BRANCH... CALHOUN... KALAMAZOO...
BARRY...VAN BUREN... OTTAWA... ALLEGAN... AND KENT.  COMMUNITIES
INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE GRAND RAPIDS... KALAMAZOO... GRAND HAVEN...
BATTLE CREEK... AND HASTINGS.

AT 140 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A FAST MOVING LINE OF SHOWERS AND
EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH THROUGH CENTRAL ILLINOIS.
THE LINE STRETCHED FROM 20 MILES WEST OF JOLIET ILLINOIS SOUTH TO NEAR
CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS. WIND GUSTS TO 65 MPH WERE REPORTED IN CHAMPAIGN AS
THIS LINE PASSED THROUGH.

THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REACH THE SOUTH END OF LAKE
MICHIGAN BY 3 PM AND MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN BY 330 PM.

EVERYONE IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN SHOULD KEEP ALERT TO THE
POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.

FELVER
Special weather statement, Jan 18, 1:52 PM EST, 4 hours 23 minutes before
MIZ056-057-064-065-071>073-080-182045-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
145 PM EST THU JAN 18 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST FOR THE
SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN COUNTIES OF BRANCH... CALHOUN... KALAMAZOO...
BARRY...VAN BUREN... OTTAWA... ALLEGAN... AND KENT.  COMMUNITIES
INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE GRAND RAPIDS... KALAMAZOO... GRAND HAVEN...
BATTLE CREEK... AND HASTINGS.

AT 140 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A FAST MOVING LINE OF SHOWERS AND
EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH THROUGH CENTRAL ILLINOIS.
THE LINE STRETCHED FROM 20 MILES WEST OF JOLIET ILLINOIS SOUTH TO NEAR
CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS. WIND GUSTS TO 65 MPH WERE REPORTED IN CHAMPAIGN AS
THIS LINE PASSED THROUGH.

THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REACH THE SOUTH END OF LAKE
MICHIGAN BY 3 PM AND MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN BY 330 PM.

EVERYONE IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN SHOULD KEEP ALERT TO THE
POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.

FELVER
Special weather statement, Jan 18, 3:41 PM EST, 2 hours 34 minutes before
MIZ056-057-064-065-071>073-080-182245-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
341 PM EST THU JAN 18 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST FOR THE
SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN COUNTIES OF BRANCH... CALHOUN... KALAMAZOO...
BARRY...VAN BUREN... OTTAWA... ALLEGAN... AND KENT.  COMMUNITIES
INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE GRAND RAPIDS... KALAMAZOO... ALLEGAN...
MIDDLEVILLE... AND ROCKFORD.

AT 337 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A FAST MOVING LINE OF SHOWERS AND
EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH THROUGH EASTERN ILLINOIS
AND WESTERN INDIANA.

THE LINE OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE THROUGH HOLLAND AROUND 430 PM AND
GRAND RAPIDS BY 510 PM.  THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH AS THEY MOVE THROUGH.

PEOPLE SHOULD SECURE LOOSE OBJECTS OUTSIDE IMMEDIATELY.  STAY
TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON THIS
DEVELOPING SITUATION.

FELVER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 18, 4:05 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRAllegan, Van Buren55 min
Jan 18, 5:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRBranch, Calhoun, Kalamazoo50 min
Jan 18, 5:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRREaton30 min
Jan 18, 6:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIngham30 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.