Alert archive / Michigan / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Detroit, MI

March 28, 1998Wayne County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 28, 1998, 11:22 AM EST for Wayne County, Michigan. It was in force for 63 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
Mar 28, 1998, 11:22 AM EST (16:22 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 1998, 12:25 PM EST
In force
63 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 16:24 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
Mar 28, 11:40 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 74Livonia, MI
Mar 28, 11:45 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 65Detroit, 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

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 4.4 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 1998-03-28Temperature 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1998-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 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.

645 
WUUS01 KDTX 281623 RRA
SVRDTX
MIC163-281725-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION/IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
1122 AM EST SAT MAR 28 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  WAYNE COUNTY - IN SOUTHEASTERN LOWER MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 1225 PM EST

* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
  ROMULUS                       BY 1135 AM EST
  LIVONIA                       BY 1145 AM EST
  DEARBORN                      BY 1150 AM EST
  DETROIT                       BY 1155 AM EST

* AT 1121 AM EST...  NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 29 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEARBORN OR
  12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BELLEVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE WIND GUSTS UP TO 90 MPH.
A WIND GUSTS TO 90 MPH IS CAPABLE OF PEELING SURFACES OFF OF
ROOFS...BREAKING WINDOWS... AND PUSHING LIGHT TRAILER HOUSES OR
MOVING AUTOMOBILES. STAY INSIDE UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

ZOLTOWSKI

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 28, 9:48 AM EST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-282200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
948 AM EST SAT MAR 28 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN...

DISPATCHERS...PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS IMMEDIATELY.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR OVER SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN LATE
THIS MORNING AND INTO THE AFTERNOON. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A
FEW OF THESE STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING WIND GUSTS OF OVER
60 MPH. THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY WILL BE SOUTH OF
I-69. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED THIS MORNING IN
PARTS OF NORTHERN INDIANA.

A WEAK COLD FRONT IN THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES THIS MORNING WILL
APPROACH SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON. WITH UNSEASONABLY
WARM AND MOIST AIR IN PLACE OVER THE AREA...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE FRONT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
MOVE RAPIDLY TO THE NORTHEAST AT SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...AND TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO...
TELEVISION...AND CABLE TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION.

ZOLTOWSKI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 11:14 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWashtenaw46 min
Mar 28, 11:35 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXOakland60 min
Mar 28, 11:42 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXMacomb63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.