Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Watches in 2011
Tornado Watch 331
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 22, 2011, 4:43 PM EDT for 8 counties in Michigan; 8 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 22, 2011, 4:43 PM EDT (20:43 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 2011, 9:17 PM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Baraga County, MI, Dickinson County, MI, Gogebic County, MI, Houghton County, MI, Iron County, MI, Marquette County, MI, Menominee County, MI, Ontonagon County, MI, Ashland County, WI, Bayfield County, WI, Burnett County, WI, Douglas County, WI, Iron County, WI, Price County, WI, Sawyer County, WI, Washburn County, WI
The radar
The Duluth radar (KDLH), 182 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:43 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
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
12 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 4:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Ashland, Iron | 48 min |
| May 22, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Iron | 76 min |
| May 22, 5:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Gogebic, Ontonagon | 53 min |
| May 22, 5:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Baraga, Houghton | 54 min |
| May 22, 5:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Ashland, Bayfield, Sawyer | 38 min |
| May 22, 5:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Douglas | 37 min |
| May 22, 6:04 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Iron | 16 min |
| May 22, 6:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | DLH | Price | 39 min |
| May 22, 6:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Ashland, Bayfield, Iron, Price, Sawyer | 50 min |
| May 22, 6:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | DLH | Price | 32 min |
| May 22, 6:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Ashland | 21 min |
| May 22, 7:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | DLH | Price | 32 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 248 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 351 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -121 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1006 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -1 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -1 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
668
WWUS20 KWNS 222041
SEL1
SPC WW 222041
MIZ000-MNZ000-WIZ000-LSZ000-230400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 331
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
345 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN
EAST-CENTRAL MINNESOTA
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN
LAKE SUPERIOR
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL
1100 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 55 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
KENNEDY WISCONSIN TO 25 MILES SOUTH OF MARQUETTE MICHIGAN. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 322...WW 323...WW
324...WW 325...WW 326...WW 327...WW 328...WW 329...WW 330...
DISCUSSION...NWD/NWWD AIR MASS RECOVERY CONTINUES THIS AFTERNOON IN
ADVANCE OF CNTRL MN DEEP-LAYER CYCLONE. RESULTANT POCKETS OF MLCAPE
OF 500-1000 J/KG COUPLED WITH VERTICALLY VEERING WIND PROFILES WILL
SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL AND A
COUPLE TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...MEADSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 3:15 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alcona, Alpena, Arenac, Bay, Clinton, Genesee and 25 more | 60 min |
| May 22, 3:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bay, Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston and 11 more | 3 hr |
| May 22, 5:16 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass and 9 more | 119 min |
| May 22, 5:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass and 12 more | 7 hr |
| May 22, 5:41 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford and 33 more | 2 hr |
| May 22, 11:53 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crawford, Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette, Richland and 2 more | 2 hr |
| May 22, 1:07 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Barron, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Crawford and 16 more | 7 hr |
| May 22, 2:49 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Dane, Dodge and 26 more | 56 min |
| May 22, 3:04 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Door and 36 more | 9 hr |
| May 22, 3:59 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Barron, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark and 23 more | 2 hr |
| May 22, 6:47 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Dane, Dodge and 27 more | 88 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2011Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2011Every tornado watch in 2011
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.