Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 4

January 7, 200813 counties in Indiana; 22 counties in Michigan

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 7, 2008, 7:01 PM EST for 13 counties in Indiana; 22 counties in Michigan. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 7, 2008, 7:01 PM EST (00:01 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 2008, 11:40 PM EST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 35 counties

Cass County, IN, Elkhart County, IN, Fulton County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, LaGrange County, IN, LaPorte County, IN, Marshall County, IN, Miami County, IN, Noble County, IN, Pulaski County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN, Starke County, IN, White County, IN, Allegan County, MI, Barry County, MI, Berrien County, MI, Branch County, MI, Calhoun County, MI, Cass County, MI, Clinton County, MI, Eaton County, MI, Gratiot County, MI, Ingham County, MI, Ionia County, MI, Isabella County, MI, Jackson County, MI, Kalamazoo County, MI, Kent County, MI, Mecosta County, MI, Montcalm County, MI, Muskegon County, MI, Newaygo County, MI, Ottawa County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Van Buren County, MI

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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 SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 7:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXLaPorte67 min
Jan 7, 7:46 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRKent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo29 min
Jan 7, 8:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRIsabella, Mecosta, Montcalm33 min
Jan 7, 8:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRAllegan, Barry, Kalamazoo, Van Buren61 min
Jan 7, 8:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXFulton, LaPorte, Marshall, Pulaski, Starke, White67 min
Jan 7, 8:29 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRGratiot, Isabella, Montcalm31 min
Jan 7, 8:38 PM ESTTornado WarningGRRGratiot, Isabella, Montcalm37 min
Jan 7, 8:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXBranch, Saint Joseph60 min
Jan 7, 8:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXElkhart, LaGrange, Saint Joseph65 min
Jan 7, 9:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRBarry, Calhoun, Eaton37 min
Jan 7, 9:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXElkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, Marshall, Miami, Wabash38 min
Jan 7, 9:29 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRREaton, Ingham, Jackson61 min
Jan 7, 10:06 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningIWXElkhart, LaPorte, Saint Joseph6 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 263 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2008-01-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 655 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2008-01-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 317 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
655 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
746 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
317 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
343 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 8:03 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 29 more117 min
Jan 7, 9:22 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Grant, Huntington and 5 more3 hr
Jan 8, 1:22 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson and 16 more83 min
Jan 8, 2:11 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Gibson, Perry, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and 1 more2 hr
Jan 8, 2:26 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCClark, Crawford, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson, Harrison and 10 more8 hr
Jan 8, 5:03 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHarrison, Perry, Spencer, Warrick117 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2008Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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.