Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

July 2, 1997Gratiot County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 1997, 3:03 PM EDT for Gratiot County, Michigan. It was in force for 47 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: Jul 2, 1997, 3:03 PM EDT (19:03 UTC)
Expired: Jul 2, 1997, 3:50 PM EDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Gratiot County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:05 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
Jul 2, 3:20 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Ithaca, 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
Jul 2, 1:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 115 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: 103 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1006 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 140 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRR 021904 RRA
TORGRR
MIC057-021950-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
303 PM EDT WED JUL 2 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  GRATIOT COUNTY - CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 350 PM EDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  ITHACA               AROUND 305 PM EDT
  ASHLEY               AROUND 310 PM EDT
  BRECKENRIDGE         AROUND 320 PM EDT
  WHEELER              AROUND 320 PM EDT

* AT 259 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
  POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTH OF ALMA OR 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  ITHACA MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING! AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.P

HEATHFIELD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 2, 6:20 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Berrien	50 min
Jul 2, 6:47 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Cass	63 min
Jul 2, 7:09 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Berrien	31 min
Jul 2, 7:54 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Cass	31 min
Jul 2, 2:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Gratiot	49 min
Jul 2, 3:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Clinton, Eaton	62 min
Jul 2, 4:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Eaton	45 min
Jul 2, 4:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Calhoun	33 min
Jul 2, 4:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Ingham	45 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.