Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Marquette, MI

August 23, 1998Menominee County, Michigan

NWS Marquette, MI issued this tornado warning at Aug 23, 1998, 5:50 PM CDT for Menominee County, Michigan. It was in force for 30 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
Aug 23, 1998, 5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired
Aug 23, 1998, 6:20 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Marquette, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Menominee County, MI

The radar

The Marquette radar (KMQT), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:54 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
Aug 23, 5:56 PM CDTHail 1Menominee, 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 1998-08-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 852 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1998-08-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 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
852 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
839 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMQT 232251 RRA
TORMQT
MIC109-232320-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
650 PM EDT (550 PM CDT) SUN AUG 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MARQUETTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN MENOMINEE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 620 PM CDT (720 PM EDT)

* AT 548 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF MENOMINEE. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST
  AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  BIRCH CREEK AT 555 PM CDT
  MENOMINEE AT 600 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNED AREA...TAKE SHELTER NOW IN A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. A BASEMENT
OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION.


KFM

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Aug 22, 9:25 PM CDT, 20 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 22, 9:25 PM CDT, 20 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1025 PM EDT SUN AUG 22 1998

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING IN THE TWIN CITIES AND
GREEN BAY AREAS.  S MN AND S WI HAVE CAPES IN THE 3000 J/KG RANGE.
LIS OVER UPPER MI WILL FALL INTO NEGATIVE TERRITORY. GOOD LOW LEVEL
THETA E ADVECTION WILL RESULT IN INCREASED INSTABILITY BY DAYBREAK,
WI BORDER WILL HAVE LIS OF  -4.  THE MOST IMPRESSIVE SHEAR WILL BE
OVERNIGHT, SO SHEAR AND INSTABILITY WILL BE OUT OF PHASE FOR UPPER
MI, ALTHOUGH MSP STORMS DOES NOT HAVE GREAT SHEAR ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
A FEW CLAPS OF THUNDER ARE OCCURRING NEAR THE WI BORDER AS RESULT OF
MORE INSTABILITY AND THE MORE ISOLATED NATURE OF THE CONVECTION.
EXPECT TO CONTINUE TO SEE MORE CONVECTION TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT ALONG
AREA OF CONVERGENCE AT LOW LEVELS.  AREA OF CONVERGENCE CURRENTLY
OVER THE WESTERN U.P. WILL BE OVER FAR EASTERN U.P. BY 12Z.  12Z WILL
SEE A NEARLY PRECIP FREE U.P.  THIS WILL ONLY BE RESPITE AS CAPES
WILL CONTINUE TO CLIMB DURING THE MORNING HOURS.  WILL MENTION SCT
-SHRA/TSRA WITH DIMINISHING TREND FROM WEST TO EAST.  WITH WET
GROUND, FOG WILL RESULT.  WILL INTRODUCE AREAS OF FOG TO THE
FORECAST.

KFM

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 23, 2:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
345 PM EDT SUN AUG 23 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1100 AM    6 SE WATERSMEET           MI   WIND DAMAGE
08/23/98   GOGEBIC                        *** 1 DEAD ***
                                          AT LEAST 6 LARGE TREES
                                          DOWN...ONE OF WHICH FELL ON
                                          A FIBER-GLASS CAMPER
                                          RESULTING IN ONE FATALITY.
                                          LOCATION WAS AT IMP LAKE
                                          IN THE OTTAWA NATIONAL
                                          FOREST.

LULOFS
Local storm report, Aug 23, 2:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
345 PM EDT SUN AUG 23 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1100 AM    6 SE WATERSMEET           MI   WIND DAMAGE
08/23/98   GOGEBIC                        *** 1 DEAD ***
                                          AT LEAST 6 LARGE TREES
                                          DOWN...ONE OF WHICH FELL ON
                                          A FIBER-GLASS CAMPER
                                          RESULTING IN ONE FATALITY.
                                          LOCATION WAS AT IMP LAKE
                                          IN THE OTTAWA NATIONAL
                                          FOREST.

LULOFS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 23, 10:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTGogebic30 min
Aug 23, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTMenominee44 min

Nearby

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