Low topped convection produced a tornados and wet microburst along with training bands of heavy rain with minor urban flooding. The severe storms formed along a warm front which lifted through the region.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS GRR wrote it up.
Low topped convection produced a tornados and wet microburst along with training bands of heavy rain with minor urban flooding. The severe storms formed along a warm front which lifted through the region. The atmosphere was characterized by low CAPE and high helicity.
The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:50 UTC.
3 tornado, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado touched down on Ferris State University in Big Rapids, 7 students injured, 5 others treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. The most serious injury was a broken arm.
Rainfall of 1 inch in under 15 minutes caused urban flooding.
Tornado touched down just south of Clare County then continued on the Ground into Clare County damaging moile and frame homes.
Tornado continued into Clare County then lifted and moved ne
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Michigan, 1998Warnings in Michigan, October 1998
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5675695, 5675698, 5675696, 5675697.