Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Grand Rapids, MI

June 24, 1998Eaton County, Michigan

NWS Grand Rapids, MI issued this tornado warning at Jun 24, 1998, 4:43 PM EDT for Eaton County, Michigan. It was in force for 47 min. 4 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 24, 1998, 4:43 PM EDT (20:43 UTC)
Expired: Jun 24, 1998, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Rapids, MI
Area: Whole counties

County Eaton County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:45 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 24, 5:05 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Charlotte, MI	Eaton County Central Dispatch reported trees, branches, and power lines were downed in and around the city of Charlotte. A Charlotte area newspaper reported a tree was downed on Lovett St. at the Prairie St. intersection. This tree pulled down power lines and
Jun 24, 5:25 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Eaton Rapids, MI	Eaton County Central Dispatch reported trees and power lines were knocked down across portions of the city of Eaton Rapids. Approximately 7,000 people in and around Eaton Rapids lost power due to the storm. No injuries or structural damage was reported. Eaton
Jun 24, 5:25 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Eaton Rapids, MI	Eaton Rapids Fire Department reported a brief tornado touchdown just east of the city of Eaton Rapids, in a wooded area of northeast Hamlin Township. Eaton County Emergency Management indicated no injuries or structural damage was reported. The tornado touched
Jun 24, 5:30 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Eaton Rapids, MI	A trained weather spotter reported golf-ball sized hail in Eaton Rapids.

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 24, 3:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 28 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -202 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1540 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 172 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.

829 
WFUS1 KGRR 242044 RRA
TORGRR
MIC045-242130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
443 PM EDT WED JUN 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 445 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES WEST OF CHARLOTTE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  CHARLOTTE            AROUND 450 PM EDT
  EATON RAPIDS         AROUND 515 PM EDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. THIS
IS A DANGEROUS STORM.

BORIS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 24, 3:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan	36 min
Jun 24, 3:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Kent	34 min
Jun 24, 3:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Barry	67 min
Jun 24, 3:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Ionia	80 min
Jun 24, 4:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Eaton	79 min
Jun 24, 4:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Clinton	77 min
Jun 24, 5:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Ingham	80 min
Jun 24, 5:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Barry	47 min
Jun 24, 5:41 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Jackson	59 min
Jun 24, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Clare, Isabella	50 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.