1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 12, 2:09 PM EST, 51 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 309 PM EDT FRI APR 12 2002 SURFACE COLD FRONT EXTENDS FROM NEAR OSC TO BEH THIS AFTERNOON. PUSHING THIS FRONT ACROSS CWA THIS EVENING WILL BE MAIN CHALLENGE FOR THIS PACKAGE. MESOETA SHOWS THE FRONT ACTUALLY /BACKDOORING/ INTO CWA ACROSS THE THUMB AS IT SLIDES DOWN THE COLD WATERS OF LAKE HURON...THEN OOZES ACROSS THE CWA. CONVECTION HAS BEEN ON THE UPTICK WITHIN THE LAST HOUR SO. THIS CONVECTION OCCURRING IN REGION OF BEST SURFACE THETA-E RIDGE EXTENDING FROM DFI TO FNT. THIS AXIS WILL SLIP SLOWLY EAST AND SOUTH THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...NOT CLEARING THE CWA UNTIL UNTIL SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. COINCIDENT WITH THIS MOISTURE AXIS...MSAS DATA YIELDING SURFACE BASED LIS OF -2 TO -3C AND LAPS DATA SHOWING CAPES TO 1 KJ/KG. SURFACE CONVERGENCE LOOKS TO BE A LITTLE BETTER ORGANIZED FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. WILL CALL FOR SHOWERS AND CHANCE THUNDERSTORMS NORTHWEST CWA...AND SHOWERS AND SCT THUNDERSTORMS ELSEWHERE ENDING BY EARLY EVENING NORTH HALF AND INTO THE EVENING SOUTH HALF. WILL MAINTAIN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVERNIGHT AND INTO MID SATURDAY MORNING FAR SOUTHEAST CWA. FRONT WILL HANG UP ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY WITH WEAK SURFACE WAVES TRAVERSING WELL SOUTH OF THE CWA. HOWEVER... COMPACT UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL TRANSIT AREA WITH JUST ENOUGH DPVA TO WARRANT A CHANCE POPS. CURIOUSLY...THE MESOETA PUSHES DEW POINTS WELL UP INTO THE 50S TOMORROW AFTERNOON...THIS ON NORTHEAST WINDS. NONE OF THE GUIDANCE PRODUCTS /INCLUDING THE EXPERIMENTAL ETA MOS/ SUPPORTS DEW POINTS RETURNING INTO THE 50S TOMORROW. MODEL SOUNDINGS POINT TO POTENTIAL FOR SOME FOG TO DEVELOP SATURDAY NIGHT AS WINDS SLACKEN AND SKIES ARE CLEAR. FOR NOW WILL JUST CALL IT PATCH FOG. SUNDAY...MESOETA IS ONCE AGAIN AGGRESSIVE IN PUSHING DEW POINTS UP INTO THE 50S WHICH IN TURN SUPPORTS CAPE VALUES PUSHING 1KJ/KG. AGAIN...NONE OF THE MOS GUIDANCE AGREES WITH THIS SCENARIO... INCLUDING THE EXPERIMENTAL ETA GUIDANCE. IN ANY CASE...WITH 950MB WINDS NOT SUPPORTIVE OF LAKE BREEZE DEVELOPMENT AND NO SYNOPTIC SCALE FRONTS VICINITY OF CWA...WILL OPT FOR A DRY DAY...ALTHOUGH MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE IN THE AFTERNOON. EXTENDED... IN THE MEAN...A BROAD 500MB RIDGE WILL BE CENTERED OFF THE FLORIDA COAST WITH A DEEP WESTERN U.S. TROUGH CENTERED ALONG THE WESTERN SPINE OF THE ROCKIES. IN THE DAILIES...SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN WILL BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE BROAD SOUTHEAST HIGH TO START THE PERIOD...THEN AS NORTHERN STREAM ENERGY FLATTENS THE HIGH...A SHARP TROUGH WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE REGION LATE IN THE PERIOD. TUESDAY WILL BE THE WARMEST DAY OF THE EXTENDED...THEN TEMPERATURES WILL PROGRESSIVELY COOL. MRF/ETA-XX INDICATE UNSTABLE CONDITIONS ACROSS CWA ON TUESDAY WITH CAPES TO 1000 J/KG AND LIS TO -4C...AS BERMUDA HIGH PUMPS WARM...MOIST AIR INTO THE CWA. GIVEN INSTABILITY FACTORS WILL CONTINUE WITH CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...HOWEVER LACK OF INITIATING BOUNDARY WILL KEEP CHANCE IN THE LOW CATEGORY. SHOWERS AND/OR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE IN THE FORECAST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED AS A COLD FRONT CROSSES CWA WEDNESDAY INTO EARLY THURSDAY...THEN SHARP 500MB TROUGH SWINGS ACROSS ON FRIDAY BRINGING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. .DTX...NONE. OKEEFE
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-130200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN...RETRANSMITTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 1050 AM EDT FRI APR 12 2002 ...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN... DISPATCHERS...PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS IMMEDIATELY. THREAT... NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. SOME OF THESE STORMS HOWEVER WILL BE CAPABLE TO PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. DISCUSSION... A COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WILL SLOWLY MOVE SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING. THE THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL END BY 6 PM TO THE NORTH OF I-69...WHILE LOCATIONS TO SOUTH WILL SEE THE THREAT END AROUND MIDNIGHT. THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. SPOTTER ACTIVATION... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR LATER FORECAST UPDATES. YOU CAN ALSO OBTAIN THE LATEST FORECAST ONLINE AT: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX/ (ALL LOWER CASE) OUTLOOK FOR SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. CONSIDINE
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-130200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN...RETRANSMITTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 1050 AM EDT FRI APR 12 2002 ...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN... DISPATCHERS...PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS IMMEDIATELY. THREAT... NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. SOME OF THESE STORMS HOWEVER WILL BE CAPABLE TO PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. DISCUSSION... A COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WILL SLOWLY MOVE SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING. THE THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL END BY 6 PM TO THE NORTH OF I-69...WHILE LOCATIONS TO SOUTH WILL SEE THE THREAT END AROUND MIDNIGHT. THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. SPOTTER ACTIVATION... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR LATER FORECAST UPDATES. YOU CAN ALSO OBTAIN THE LATEST FORECAST ONLINE AT: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX/ (ALL LOWER CASE) OUTLOOK FOR SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. CONSIDINE
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:57 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A bolt of lightning struck a detached garage setting it ablaze. The garage suffered some sizable damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, April 2002
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: 5284611.