Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

August 19, 1996Montcalm County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 19, 1996, 5:02 PM EDT for Montcalm County, Michigan. It was in force for 28 min. 2 reports 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: Aug 19, 1996, 5:02 PM EDT (21:02 UTC)
Expired: Aug 19, 1996, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Montcalm County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:05 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 19, 5:10 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Sheridan, MI
Aug 19, 5:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Sheridan, 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 155 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1282 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 117 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 192102
TORGRR
MIC117-192130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
502 PM EDT MON AUG 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN
 
   ...EASTERN MONTCALM COUNTY
 
AT 500 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
POSSIBLE TORNADO BETWEEN GREENVILLE AND SHERIDAN...MOVING EAST AT 25
MPH. THIS STORM WILL AFFECT SHERIDAN...FENNWICK...AND BUTTERNUT THROUGH
530 PM EDT. SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WIND DAMAGE HAS ALREADY BEEN
REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO THE SAFEST SHELTER IS IN A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR A PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF
NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS... PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
 
BORIS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Aug 19, 2:57 PM EDT, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 19, 2:57 PM EDT, 2 hours 5 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

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 19, 4:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Kent, Montcalm	43 min
Aug 19, 5:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Gratiot, Montcalm	57 min
Aug 19, 6:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Clinton	59 min
Aug 19, 6:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Ionia	60 min
Aug 19, 7:39 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Ionia	66 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.