Flash Flood, Kent
- When
- June 17, 11:30 PM EST to June 18, 6:00 AM EST
- Where
- Kent County, Northwest
- Coordinates
- 43.032, -85.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Michigan, June 17 to 18, 1996
5 inches of rainfall in 1 hour to create extensive flash flooding conditions in the Kent City and Sparta areas. Totals for the 24 hour period ranged from 3 to 4 inches.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GRR wrote it up.
A saturated area of northwest Kent County received 1.5 inches of rainfall in 1 hour to create extensive flash flooding conditions in the Kent City and Sparta areas. Totals for the 24 hour period ranged from 3 to 4 inches. Sewer backups and widespread street flooding was reported in Kent City. Three miles of Peach Ridge Road was flooded between 14 and 17 Mile Roads, and water covered numerous roads around Sparta. Flooding lead to evacuations in Sparta near intersections of Averill and Martindale, and State and Division.
The radar
The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 15 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:34 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Illinois, June 17, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17 to 18, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17 to 18, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17 to 22, 1996
- Flash Flood in Wisconsin, June 17, 1996
- Flooding in Iowa, June 17 to 25, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17, 1996
- Flood in Wisconsin, June 17 to 18, 1996
More
Every storm in Michigan in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, June 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5561646.