Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Marquette, MI

July 2, 1997Delta County, Michigan

NWS Marquette, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 1997, 11:58 AM EDT for Delta County, Michigan. It was in force for 62 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, 11:58 AM EDT (15:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1997, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Marquette, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Delta County, MI

The radar

The Marquette radar (KMQT), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:59 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
Jul 2, 12:10 PM EDTHail 1.5Schaffer, 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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 175 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1997-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 298 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1997-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 181 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
298 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-224 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
745 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
252 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.2

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 Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 2, 11:15 AM EDT, 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 11:15 AM EDT, 43 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1115 AM EDT WED JUL 2 1997

SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS. TWO REPORTS GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL MQT CNTY THIS HOUR. PEA SIZE HAIL GLADSTONE AREA. MOIST AND
UNSTABLE CONDS OVR FA REST OF AFTN INTO ERLY EVE WILL CONT SVR WX
THREAT.  UPDATE TO TWEAK WORDING FOR AFTN.

MACHOWSKI

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 2, 6:00 AM EDT, 5 hours 58 minutes before
MIZ001>007-009>014-031200-

SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
600 AM EDT WED JUL 2 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL FOR WEST AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN THIS
AFTERNOON...

THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN
THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE GREATEST RISK EAST OF A LINE FROM MARQUETTE TO
IRON MOUNTAIN.

AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG LOW PRESSURE CENTER OVER NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
THIS EARLY THIS MORNING WILL MOVE INTO WEST UPPER MICHIGAN BY EVENING.
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE RELATIVELY WARM
AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT MOVING TOWARD UPPER
MICHIGAN FROM WISCONSIN. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AFTER NOON EDT
AND MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH...HAIL UP
TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER....AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES AN
HOUR. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THESE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS AS STRONG LOW LEVEL WINDS VEER RAPIDLY WITH HEIGHT.

IF YOU ARE LIVING OR ARE VACATIONING IN WEST AND CENTRAL UPPER
MICHIGAN... YOU SHOULD STAY ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER
THIS AFTERNOON.  STAY TUNED TO YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO AND
CABLE TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS
SEVERE WEATHER THREAT AS THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING PROGRESSES.

HAM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVITATION THIS
AFTERNOON.

JLB
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 10:10 AM EDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
MIZ004-005-010-011-021500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1008 AM EDT (908 AM CDT) WED JUL 2 1997

AT 955 AM EDT (855 AM CDT) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LOCAL RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS OF 1/4 TO 1/2 INCHES PER HOUR.  THE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED IMMEDIATELY EAST OF CRYSTAL FALLS AND IN A LINE
BETWEEN MARQUETTE AND BARAGA.  THUNDERSTORM MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
NORTH AT 35 MPH.

THE CRYSTAL FALLS STORM WILL REACH WITCH LAKE BY 1020 AM EDT.  THE
LINE OF STORMS IN MARQUETTE AND BARAGA COUNTIES WILL REACH BIG BAY
BY 1015 AM EDT.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING DEADLY LIGHTNING AND LOW
VISIBILITIES IN HEAVY RAIN.  TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTION AS THEY
APPROACH.

PELLETT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 11:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTAlger63 min
Jul 2, 10:42 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTMarquette63 min
Jul 2, 11:29 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTAlger13 hr
Jul 2, 11:58 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTKeweenaw62 min
Jul 2, 12:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDelta, Schoolcraft58 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.