High Wind, Midland
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Midland forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.647, -84.388 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Michigan, October 30, 1996
An intense low pressure system tracked north of Lake Superior on the 30th, with its trailing cold front crossing southeast Michigan during the early morning hours. High winds associated with the front did widespread damage.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 17 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
- $90,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 17
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 DTX wrote it up.
An intense low pressure system tracked north of Lake Superior on the 30th, with its trailing cold front crossing southeast Michigan during the early morning hours. High winds associated with the front did widespread damage. Reports of damage began with the roof being torn off of a house in Ida, in Monroe county, shortly after midnight. Through the day, high winds downed trees and powerlines, causing outages throughout southeast Michigan. Detroit Edison reported outages to 70,000 customers. In downtown Detroit, the high winds snapped a scaffolding cable on the Renaissance Center at around 730 am EDT, shattering 20 windowpanes and showering an atrium and parking lot with glass. Elsewhere, large trees blew over, crashing through the roofs of houses at Detroit Beach in Monroe county and in Ann Arbor (Washtenaw county).
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
17 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Bay
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Bay forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.721, -83.942 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Huron
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Huron forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.910, -82.855 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Saginaw
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Saginaw forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.335, -84.053 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Tuscola
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Tuscola forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.491, -83.440 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Sanilac
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Sanilac forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.443, -82.646 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Shiawassee
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Shiawassee forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 42.954, -84.147 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Genesee
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Genesee forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.022, -83.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Lapeer
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Lapeer forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.090, -83.222 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, St. Clair
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- St. Clair forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 42.931, -82.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Livingston
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Livingston forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 42.603, -83.911 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Oakland
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Oakland forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 42.660, -83.386 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Macomb
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Macomb forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 42.673, -82.910 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Washtenaw
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Washtenaw forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 42.253, -83.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Wayne
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Wayne forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 42.285, -83.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Lenawee
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Lenawee forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 41.895, -84.066 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Monroe
- When
- October 30, 12:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Monroe forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 41.921, -83.494 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in Ohio, October 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Ohio, October 30, 1996
- Strong Wind in Wisconsin, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in Iowa, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in Iowa, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in New York, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in Pennsylvania, October 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Ohio, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in New York, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in Minnesota, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in New York, October 30, 1996
- High Wind in New York, October 30, 1996
More
Every storm in Michigan in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, October 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5573324, 5573325, 5573326, 5573327, 5573328, 5573329, 5573330, 5573331, 5573332, 5573333, 5573334, 5573335, 5573336, 5573337, 5573338, 5573339, 5573340.