Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Detroit, MI

May 5, 1997Wayne County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1997, 11:42 PM EDT for Wayne County, Michigan. It was in force for 48 min. 3 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
May 5, 1997, 11:42 PM EDT (03:42 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 1997, 12:30 AM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Detroit, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Wayne County, MI

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:46 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
May 5, 11:52 PM EDTHail 0.75Westland, MI
May 5, 11:54 PM EDTHail 0.75Livonia, MI
May 6, 12:05 AM EDTHail 0.75Dearborn, 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

Alpena, MI (KAPX), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 317 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-06Temperature 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, Alpena, MI at 00:00Z on 1997-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -45 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
701 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-41 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.

NWS Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 5, 12:22 PM EDT, 11 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 12:22 PM EDT, 11 hours 20 minutes before
SHORT TERM FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
1221 PM EDT MON MAY 5 1997

MIZ047>048-053-052100-

MIDLAND...BAY CITY...SAGINAW...

.NOW...
MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
BE SEEN ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL PRODUCE WIND GUSTS UP 45 MILES AN HOUR AND SMALL HAIL.
TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AROUND 60 DEGREES. HOWEVER...A STIFF
SOUTHWEST WIND AT 20 TO 30 MPH WILL XMAKE IT FEEL COOLER THAN WHAT
THE THERMOMETER IS READING.

BOYNE

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 5, 9:25 PM EDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MICHIGAN
925 PM EDT MON MAY 05 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0820 PM    HEMLOCK                   MI   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        PUBLIC REPORTED GOLF BALL
                                          SIZED HAIL IN HEMLOCK

0833 PM    MERRILL                   MI   .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL JUST NORTH OF
                                          MERRILL
Local storm report, May 5, 9:28 PM EDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MICHIGAN
925 PM EDT MON MAY 05 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0820 PM    HEMLOCK                   MI   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        PUBLIC REPORTED GOLF BALL
                                          SIZED HAIL IN HEMLOCK

0833 PM    MERRILL                   MI   .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL JUST NORTH OF
                                          MERRILL
Local storm report, May 5, 10:07 PM EDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MICHIGAN
1007 PM EDT MON MAY 05 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
 0820 PM    HEMLOCK                   MI   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        PUBLIC REPORTED GOLF BALL
                                          SIZED HAIL IN HEMLOCK

0833 PM    MERRILL                   MI   .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL JUST NORTH OF
                                          MERRILL

0950 PM    GRAND BLANC               MI   .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   GENESEE                        SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL 2 MILES NORTH
                                          OF GRAND BLANC
Local storm report, May 5, 10:09 PM EDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MICHIGAN
1007 PM EDT MON MAY 05 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
 0820 PM    HEMLOCK                   MI   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        PUBLIC REPORTED GOLF BALL
                                          SIZED HAIL IN HEMLOCK

0833 PM    MERRILL                   MI   .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   SAGINAW                        SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL JUST NORTH OF
                                          MERRILL

0950 PM    GRAND BLANC               MI   .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/97   GENESEE                        SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL 2 MILES NORTH
                                          OF GRAND BLANC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 8:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXSaginaw35 min
May 5, 9:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXGenesee49 min
May 5, 11:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWashtenaw25 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.