Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

August 20, 1996Mecosta County, Montcalm County, Newaygo County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 20, 1996, 4:36 AM EDT for Mecosta County, Montcalm County, Newaygo County, Michigan. It was in force for 39 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: Aug 20, 1996, 4:36 AM EDT (08:36 UTC)
Expired: Aug 20, 1996, 5:15 AM EDT
In force: 39 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area: Whole counties

Counties Mecosta County, MI, Montcalm County, MI, Newaygo County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:39 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 00:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 184 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 135 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -116 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1041 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

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.

NWS Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 19, 2:57 PM EDT, 13 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 19, 2:57 PM EDT, 13 hours 39 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
250 PM EDT MON AUG 19 1996

KGRR WSR-88D SHOWS FIRST WAVE OF PCPN THAT CROSSED FCST AREA THIS
MRNG HAS REACHED E CNTRL AND SERN LWR...W/ A SECOND AREA OF TSRA
OVER NWRN LWR FROM LDM NWD.  ANOTHER ISOLD CELL HAS RECENTLY POPPED
UP ARND GRR IN AREA OF LOW LVL CNVRGC.  ALSO WATCHING AREA OF
CNVTN OVER ERN IA/WRN IL...WHICH IS MVG INTO AREA OF STG 850MB
THETA-E ADVTN...INSTABILITY (ADAP LI`S TO -6)...AND PRES FALLS. CLD
TOPS ARE BGNG TO WARM ON INITIAL AREA OF CNVTN...BUT APRS AS IF SOME
SOME STMS TRYING TO DVLP ALG OUTFLOW BNDRY OUT AHD OF MAIN PCPN AREA.
MDLS ARE POINTING TWD 850MB INFLOW TURNING MORE SWLY THIS EVNG W/INCRSG
850MB MSTR/THETA-E ADVCTN...SO THE POTL IS THERE FOR CNVTN DVLPG OVR
SRN WI/NRN IL TO REACH WRN LWR THIS EVNG AND MOVE ACRS FCST AREA.
LINGERING INSTABILTY COMBINED W/MSTR CNVRGC/THETA-E ADVCTN/WAA COULD
ALSO ALLOW SOME SHRA/TSRA TO DVLP OVRNGT...SO IN ALL THINK SCTD POPS
SHUD WORK IN MOST AREAS.

ETA/NGM BRING NXT COLD FRONT INTO WRN LWR TUES MRNG ALTHO BEST
DYNAMICS LIFT N OF LK SUPERIOR.  STILL W/HIGH SFC DWPTS...WK S/WV
TROF SWINGING ACRS LWR MI...AND LI`S ARND -4 XPCT SCTD SHRA/TSRA
ONCE AGAIN ON TUESDAY...THO PCPN CHCS WILL END FROM W TO E DURNG
THE AFTN AS THE FRONT PASSES AND DRIER AIR BGNS TO ADVECT IN.

XPCT MORE CLNDS ACRS NWRN 1/2 OF CWA TNGT/TUESDAY AS FLOW BCMS
WRLY/SWRLY AND PULLS SOME OF THE LOW CLDS IN FROM WI.  MORE SUdNSHINE
OVR SERN 1/2 OF CWA SHUD WARM THINGS UP NICELY TUESDAY AFTN.

GRR EB 068/082 0154X
LAN TB 068/086 0145X

BORIS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 19, 11:01 PM EDT, 5 hours 35 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 19, 8:12 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Clinton	63 min
Aug 20, 12:32 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Osceola	28 min
Aug 20, 1:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Jackson	52 min
Aug 20, 2:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Calhoun	25 min
Aug 20, 4:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Branch, Hillsdale	54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1996 Every 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.