Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

June 12, 1998Calhoun County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 1998, 4:32 PM EDT for Calhoun County, Michigan. It was in force for 48 min. 5 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: Jun 12, 1998, 4:32 PM EDT (20:32 UTC)
Expired: Jun 12, 1998, 5:20 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Calhoun County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:32 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
Jun 12, 4:34 PM EDT	Tornado F1	Bedford, MI	Damage surveys conducted by the National Weather Service with the assistance of the Civil Air Patrol and Calhoun County Emergency Management confirmed a brief tornado touchdown occurred in Bedford Township of northwest Calhoun County at 4:34 pm EDT on Friday,
Jun 12, 4:34 PM EDT	Hail 1.25	Bedford, MI	Reported by amateur radio operators just prior to tornado touchdown.
Jun 12, 4:45 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Pennfield, MI	The same supercell thunderstorm which produced the F1 tornado in northwest Calhoun County produced a wet microburst as it moved across Pennfield Township. The downburst caused one fatality and 2 injuries approximately 1/2 mile south of Pennfield High School, j
Jun 12, 4:45 PM EDT	Hail 1	Pennfield, MI	Residents reported to NWS Grand Rapids officials that one inch diameter hail fell immediately before downburst of damaging winds hit Pennfield Township.
Jun 12, 4:50 PM EDT	Hail 1.5	Pennfield, 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
Jun 12, 3:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 140 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: 5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 147 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 122032 RRA
TORGRR
MIC025-122120-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
432 PM EDT FRI JUN 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CALHOUN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 520 PM EDT

* AT 432 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF BATTLE CREEK MOVING EAST AT 40
  MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  CERESCO              AROUND 445 PM EDT
  MARSHALL             AROUND 450 PM EDT
  MARENGO              AROUND 500 PM EDT
  DUCK LAKE            AROUND 500 PM EDT

IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

MJK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 12, 2:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Ottawa	49 min
Jun 12, 3:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan	49 min
Jun 12, 3:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan	32 min
Jun 12, 4:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Barry	50 min
Jun 12, 4:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Barry	35 min
Jun 12, 4:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Eaton	48 min
Jun 12, 5:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Ingham	50 min
Jun 12, 5:08 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Jackson	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.