High Wind in Michigan, September 29 to 30, 1997

A strong pressure gradient developed across much of the southern Lower Peninsula Monday afternoon, September 29, 1997, and continued to affect the area through the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 20th. An intense low pressure center was moving east, just north of Lake Superior, while high pressure was building to the south. The gradient between the two systems brought southwest, then west winds which gusted between 40 and 50 mph through much of Monday afternoon and night. Peak wind gusts reached 48 mph late Monday afternoon at the Kent County International Airport in Grand Rapids, the Capitol City Airport in Lansing, and W.K. Kellogg Regional Airport in Battle Creek. Gusts reached 46 mph at Jackson County Airport Monday evening and 40 mph at Muskegon County Airport Monday night, just after Midnight EDT. The winds caused some trees and power lines to come down, which resulted in 35,000 power outages across the region. Felled trees blocked a few isolated roads across the area for a brief time including Vicary Road in Hillsdale, Woodbridge and Union Streets in Jackson, and Grove Street in Greenville. The roof of a business in Plainwell was damaged. A tree fell on a home in Kalamazoo and another on a home in East Lansing. A tree came down onto 2 cars in the village of Marcellus in Cass County. No injuries were reported. Damage estimates were not available for the event.