Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Detroit, MI

June 21, 1997Macomb County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 21, 1997, 6:50 PM EDT for Macomb County, Michigan. It was in force for 65 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
Jun 21, 1997, 6:50 PM EDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired
Jun 21, 1997, 7:55 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Detroit, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Macomb County, MI

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:51 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
Jun 21, 7:40 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 55Macomb, 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
Jun 21, 4:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1997-06-21Temperature 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 1997-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
801 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
11 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, Jun 21, 4:18 PM EDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-220100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
420 PM EDT SAT JUN 21 1997

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 498 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST
MICHIGAN UNTIL 9 PM...

TORNADO WATCH 498 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
UNTIL 9 PM.  COMMUNITIES IN THE WATCH INCLUDE MIDLAND...
BAD AXE... SAGINAW... FLINT... PORT HURON... HOWELL... PONTIAC...
MT CLEMENS... ANN ARBOR... DETROIT... AND MONROE.

AT 4 PM... A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM SAGINAW
BAY SOUTHWEST TO JUST WEST OF KALAMAZOO.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE TORNADOES... LARGE HAIL...
AND WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MILES AN HOUR.
IF YOU ARE IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... BE ALERT
FOR SEVERE WEATHER.  IF YOU SEE THEATENING WEATHER APPROACH... MOVE
QUICKLY TO SHELTER.

KEYES
Special weather statement, Jun 21, 4:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-220100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
420 PM EDT SAT JUN 21 1997

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 498 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST
MICHIGAN UNTIL 9 PM...

TORNADO WATCH 498 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
UNTIL 9 PM.  COMMUNITIES IN THE WATCH INCLUDE MIDLAND...
BAD AXE... SAGINAW... FLINT... PORT HURON... HOWELL... PONTIAC...
MT CLEMENS... ANN ARBOR... DETROIT... AND MONROE.

AT 4 PM... A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM SAGINAW
BAY SOUTHWEST TO JUST WEST OF KALAMAZOO.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE TORNADOES... LARGE HAIL...
AND WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MILES AN HOUR.
IF YOU ARE IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... BE ALERT
FOR SEVERE WEATHER.  IF YOU SEE THEATENING WEATHER APPROACH... MOVE
QUICKLY TO SHELTER.

KEYES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 10:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXLenawee46 min
Jun 21, 4:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXShiawassee59 min
Jun 21, 4:47 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXGenesee43 min
Jun 21, 5:31 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXLapeer44 min
Jun 21, 5:48 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXGenesee27 min
Jun 21, 6:04 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningDTXGenesee, Lapeer2 hr
Jun 21, 6:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXSaint Clair, Sanilac57 min
Jun 21, 6:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXOakland35 min
Jun 21, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXSaint Clair45 min
Jun 21, 7:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWayne31 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.