Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Detroit, MI

May 5, 2003Washtenaw County, Michigan

NWS Detroit, MI issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2003, 7:12 PM EDT for Washtenaw County, Michigan. It was in force for 48 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 5, 2003, 7:12 PM EDT (23:12 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2003, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Detroit, MI
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Washtenaw County, MI

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:15 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 5, 5:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 56 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 401 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.

628 
WFUS53 KDTX 052312
TORDTX
MIC161-060000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
712 PM EDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DETROIT/PONTIAC HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT

* AT 710 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF
  ANN ARBOR...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. 

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  YPSILANTI AT 725 PM EDT
  SALEM AT 730 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 4239 8400 4211 8390 4216 8355 4242 8355

$$

WAG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 5:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Shiawassee	49 min
May 5, 6:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Genesee	39 min
May 5, 6:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Washtenaw	50 min
May 5, 6:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Livingston	40 min
May 5, 6:58 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	DTX	Genesee, Oakland	32 min
May 5, 7:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Lapeer	51 min
May 5, 7:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Wayne	57 min
May 5, 7:29 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	DTX	Wayne	46 min
May 5, 7:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Oakland	43 min
May 5, 7:53 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	DTX		82 min
May 5, 7:53 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	DTX	Macomb, Oakland	52 min
May 5, 7:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DTX	Saint Clair	63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.