Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Detroit, MI

August 16, 1997Wayne County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1997, 8:15 AM EDT for Wayne County, Michigan. It was in force for 65 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 16, 1997, 8:15 AM EDT (12:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1997, 9:20 AM EDT
In force
65 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 12:15 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 16, 8:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 50 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 1997-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2226 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 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
2226 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDTX 161216 RRA
TORDTX
MIC163-161320-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
815 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997

*   TORNADO WARNING FOR
    WAYNE COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN LOWER MICHIGAN

*   UNTIL 920 AM EDT
 
*   SOME AREAS AFFECTED
    BELLEVILLE                    BY 825 AM EDT
    ROMULUS                       BY 829 AM EDT
    DEARBORN                      BY 841 AM EDT
    DETROIT                       BY 848 AM EDT

*  AT 813 AM EDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY
  DETROIT/PONTIAC DOPPLER RADAR 29 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEARBORN OR 11
  MILES WEST OF BELLEVILLE MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOMVE OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID
WINDOWS.


DLK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 7:21 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXLenawee64 min
Aug 16, 7:49 AM EDTTornado WarningDTXWashtenaw61 min
Aug 16, 8:06 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXMonroe49 min
Aug 16, 2:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXMonroe40 min
Aug 16, 3:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXLenawee56 min
Aug 16, 4:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXLenawee, Monroe55 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.