Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

April 30, 1997Kalamazoo County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1997, 8:12 PM EDT for Kalamazoo County, Michigan. It was in force for 48 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: Apr 30, 1997, 8:12 PM EDT (00:12 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 1997, 9:00 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Kalamazoo County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:11 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
Apr 30, 8:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Schoolcraft, MI
Apr 30, 8:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Portage, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 30, 4:30 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 324 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: 542 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 78 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 261 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 555 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 010013 RRA
TORGRR
MIC077-010100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
812 PM EDT WED APR 30 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS MI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN

   ...KALAMAZOO COUNTY
 
AT 811 PM EDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR 13 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KALAMAZOO OR 9 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF PORTAGE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

THIS STORM CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE VICINITY OF...
    OSHTEMO                 AROUND 815 PM EDT
    PORTAGE                 AROUND 815 PM EDT
    KALAMAZOO               AROUND 820 PM EDT
    GALESBURG               AROUND 825 PM EDT
    RICHLAND                AROUND 825 PM EDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT.
GET UNDER A STURDY WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

GTG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 8:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Saint Joseph	37 min
Apr 30, 8:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Calhoun	51 min

Nearby

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