Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Gaylord, MI

July 3, 1999Alcona County, Michigan

NWS Gaylord, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1999, 7:39 PM EDT for Alcona County, Michigan. It was in force for 31 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 3, 1999, 7:39 PM EDT (23:39 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1999, 8:10 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Gaylord, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Alcona County, MI

The radar

The NCL Michigan radar (KAPX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:41 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 3, 7:48 PM EDTTornado F1Barton City, MIContinuation of Oscoda County tornado. Hundreds of trees down and 16 homes damaged.

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

Alpena, MI (KAPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Alpena, MI at 12:00Z on 1999-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 643 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, Alpena, MI at 12:00Z on 1999-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 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
643 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-108 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
829 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAPX 032340 RRA
TORAPN
MIC001-040010-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GAYLORD MI
739 PM EDT SAT JUL 3 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GAYLORD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ALCONA COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN LOWER MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 810 PM EDT

* AT 736 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 13 MILES NORTHEAST OF MIO... MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL BE AT...
  M-65 2 MILES NORTH OF CURRAN BY 745 PM EDT
  HUBARD LAKE BY 750 PM EDT
  SPRUCE BY 800 PM EDT

PERSONS IN AND NEAR THESE AREAS SHOULD IMMEDIATELY MOVE INTO A
BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS.


KEITH/HIRSCH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 7:20 PM EDTTornado WarningAPXMontmorency, Oscoda35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.