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, 9:28 AM EST, 4 hours 7 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 1028 AM EDT FRI APR 12 2002 A SURFACE COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS WILL SLOWLY MOVE SOUTH ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE LATEST RUC BRINGS THE THE FRONT INTO THE TRI CITIES REGION BETWEEN 18 AND 21Z. MODEST LIFT AHEAD OF A SHORT WAVE TROUGH CURRENTLY OVER IOWA...UPPER DIVERGENCE IN ENTRANCE REGION OF 80KT 250MB JET EAST OF LAKE SUPERIOR...AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING FRONT WILL STILL WARRANT WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. MODEL SOUNDINGS FOR THIS AFTERNOON SHOW CAPES BETWEEN 600 AND 1000 J/KG...WITH SFC LIS -1 TO -3 DEG C. THE INSTABILITY IS CERTAINLY ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN MENTION OF THUNDER. 12Z DTX SOUNDING HAD FAIRLY GOOD UNIDIRECTIONAL SHEAR (0-6KM SHEAR OF 40 M/S). SHEAR PROFILES ARE PROGGED TO DROP THIS AFTERNOON AND MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES BECOMING MORE MOIST ADIABATIC. ANTICIPATE THAT INCREASING AFTERNOON CLOUD COVER WILL SUPPRESS SFC HEATING ENOUGH TO PREVENT THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP FROM BECOMING SEVERE. SOME PEAKS OF SUNSHINE THIS MORNING HAVE ALLOWED TEMPS TO WARM INTO THE 60S ALREADY. EXPECT THAT AFTERNOON CLOUD COVER AND RAINFALL WILL KEEP TEMPS IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S. I WILL HOLD OFF ON ZFPDTX UPDATED UNTIL AFTER 15Z OBS COME IN. .DTX...NONE. 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), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:37 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A man was struck while making household repairs in his attic. It is thought that lightning traveled through the metal heating ducts. The man was hospitalized for a couple of days.
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: 5284711.