Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Gaylord, MI

July 2, 1997Oscoda County, Michigan

NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 1997, 3:30 PM EDT for Oscoda County, Michigan. It was in force for 40 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
Jul 2, 1997, 3:30 PM EDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1997, 4:10 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Gaylord, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Oscoda County, MI

The radar

The NCL Michigan radar (KAPX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:30 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 2, 3:35 PM EDTHail 0.75Mio, MI
Jul 2, 3:35 PM EDTHail 1Mio, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 2, 1:45 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Alpena, MI (KAPX), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Alpena, MI at 12:00Z on 1997-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 195 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Alpena, MI at 12:00Z on 1997-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 103 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
195 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
732 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAPN 021930 RRA
TORAPN
MIC135-022010-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GAYLORD MI
330 PM EDT WED JUL 2 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  OSCODA COUNTY - NORTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 410 PM EDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    MIO
    FAIRVIEW

* AT 330 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF MIO...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR MIO BY 340 PM EDT AND NEAR FAIRVIEW BY
  355 PM EDT.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN A
BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUSINESS!

KOPSKY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 12:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXLeelanau46 min
Jul 2, 1:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXAntrim, Charlevoix50 min
Jul 2, 1:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXEmmet61 min
Jul 2, 2:13 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXEmmet47 min
Jul 2, 2:53 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXCrawford42 min
Jul 2, 3:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXOscoda63 min
Jul 2, 3:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXArenac, Ogemaw64 min
Jul 2, 4:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXAlcona, Iosco64 min
Jul 2, 4:45 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXArenac35 min
Jul 2, 5:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAPXMontmorency37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997

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.