Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Detroit, MI

May 21, 2001Genesee County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this tornado warning at May 21, 2001, 2:51 PM EDT for Genesee County, Michigan. It was in force for 39 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 2001, 2:51 PM EDT (18:51 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 2001, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Detroit, MI
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Genesee County, MI

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:51 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 40 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 2001-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 293 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2001-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 134 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
293 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDTX 211851
TORDTX
MIC049-211930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
251 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GENESEE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 330 PM EDT

* AT 251 PM EDT...A TORNADO AS INDICATED BY TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS
  WAS LOCATED 3 MILES SOUTH OF LINDEN...OR 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  HOWELL...MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  RANKIN AT 305 PM EDT
  SWARTZ CREEK AT 315 PM EDT
  FLINT AT 320 PM EDT
  FLUSHING AT 325 PM EDT
  
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID
WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 4280 8389 4279 8373 4322 8355 4322 8388

DJF OKEEFE

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 1:35 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXOakland25 min
May 21, 2:24 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXLivingston36 min
May 21, 4:52 PM EDTTornado WarningDTXGenesee, Lapeer38 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes in 2001

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.