In the wake of a strong summer storm system that moved into Ontario, high winds buffeted Upper Michigan during the evening of the 17th. The exposed Keweenaw Peninsula was hardest hit, where there were reports of numerous trees down and power outages.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 MQT wrote it up.
In the wake of a strong summer storm system that moved into Ontario, high winds buffeted Upper Michigan during the evening of the 17th. The exposed Keweenaw Peninsula was hardest hit, where there were reports of numerous trees down and power outages.
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 Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 17, 3:45 PM EST, 4 hours 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
445 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002
MAIN FCST CONCERNS ARE WIND TREND ALONG WITH POTENTIAL FOR
ADDITIONAL LGT PCPN.
WV IMAGERY AND RUC ANALYSIS INDICATED POTENT H5 LOW JUST NORTH OF
KINL WITH RELATIVELY ZONAL FLOW UPSTREAM FROM THE PAC NW TO THE NR
PLAINS. NEXT SIGNIFICANT SHRTWV WAS DIGGING INTO THE PAC NW. DRY
SLOT HAD SPREAD FROM MN AND NW WI ACRS MOST OF UPR MI. AT THE
SFC...990 MB LOW WAS LOCATED OVER WRN ONTARIO (NEAR CYXL) WITH AN
OCCLUDED FRONT INTO ERN LK SUPERIOR AND CLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTH
THROUGH CNTRL UPR MI(E OF MQT) INTO ERN WI. FRONT SUPPORTED BAND OF
SHRA OVER ERN LK SUPERIOR. LAPS ANALYSIS INDICATED CAPE NEAR 700
J/KG OVER FAR ERN PORTION OF CWA AHEAD OF THE SHRA. STRONG
ISALLOBARIC GRADIENT ALONG WITH CAA AND DIURNAL HEATING HAS HELPED
MIX DOWN 925 WINDS NEAR 45 KT AS KIWD AND KCMX REPORTED GUSTS TO
NEAR 50 MPH.
MDLS WERE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO FEATURES AFFECTING
UPR MI THROUGH 48 HRS.
TONIGHT...LEFT MENTION OF A FEW SHOWERS EARLY FOR NE PORTION OF CWA
EAST OF MUNISING WITH EXITING BAND OF SHRA. HEADLINES WERE LEFT IN
PLACE FOR THIS EVENING AS TIGHTEST GRADIENT AND 925-850 WIND MAX OF
50-55 KTS SLIDES ACRS NW PORTION OF THE CWA...AFFECTING MAINLY THE
KEWEENAW. FCST SNDGS ALSO SHOW ENOUGH INSTABILITY IN LOW LVLS (H8
TEMPS NEAR 5C-7C) TO SUPPORT CONTINUATION OF HIGH GUST POTENTIAL.
VEERING TREND WITH WIND MAX TOWARD 270 WILL ALSO BE FAVORABLE FOR
ADDITIONAL HIGH GUSTS OVER THE KEWEENAW. HOWEVER... BEST ISALLOBARIC
GRADIENT WITH SECONDARY TROF...INTO WRN LK SUPERIOR AFT
03Z...REMAINS OVER THE NRN PORTION OF LK SUPERIOR AND NRN ONTARIO.
AFT 06Z...GRADIENT WEAKENS AND WINDS SHOULD DIMINISH AS THE LOW
MOVES TO NEAR JAMES BAY. WRAP AROUND MOISTURE AND LOW LEVEL CYCLONIC
FLOW SHOULD SUPPORT SOME --SHRA/SPRINKLES INTO NRN UPR MI...MAINLY
AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SUNDAY...WITH CYCLONIC FLOW DIMINISHING AND SFC RDG BUIDING INTO THE
AREA LINGERING LOW CLOUDS SHOULD GIVE WAY TO SCT-BKN CU/SC BY
AFTERNOON WITH H8 TEMPS NEAR 7C. MIXING TO 850 MB WOULD ALSO YIELD
MAX READINGS IN THE UPPER 60S...WITH DOWNSLOPE WNW PUSHING READINGS
TO AROUND 70 F IN FAVORED LOCATIONS.
SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...ETA AND AVN CONSISTENT IN KEEPING MAIN
BATCH OF PCPN WITH PAC NW SHRTWV AND ASSOCIATED SFC LOW NEAR FRONTAL
BNDRY WELL SOUTH OF UPR MI. WITH DRY AIRMASS AND LACK OF SIGNIFICANT
MOISTURE ADVECTION...WEAKER SHRTWV TRAVERSING THE AREA LATE SUNDAY
NIGHT EARLY MONDAY SHOULD BRING ONLY BRIEF INCREASE IN MID CLOUDS.
TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...AVN/ECMWF/UKMET WERE CONSISTENT IN
BRINGING SHRTWV AND FRONTAL BNDRY INTO UPR MI WED IN ZONAL PATTERN.
WITH RELATIVELY FLAT PATTERN QUICK FLOW...UNCERTAINTY ARISES WITH
TIMING AND STRENGTH OF SHRTWVS AND POSITION OF FRONTAL BNDRY.
SO...HAVE ADDED SHRA/TSRA LINGERING INTO THURSDAY. HOWEVER...06Z/12Z
AVN DEPICTION OF SFC LOW WITH LARGE QPF BULLSEYE IS CONTAMINATED BY
GRID-SCALE FEEDBACK. MDLS SUGGEST TREND TOWARD MORE AMPLIFIED PATTERN
BY FRI/SAT. HAVE LEANED CLOSER TOWARD LESS AMPLIFIED ENSEMBLE
MEAN...PER NCEP...KEEPING MID LVL TROF AND SFC LO DEVELOPMENT
FARTHER E OR NE. SO...HAVE LEFT DRY FOR NOW...AND NOT DROPPED TEMPS
AS MUCH AS SUGGESTED BY MRF MOS.
.MQT...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING MIZ001-003
HIGH WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING MIZ002-004-005-009
GALE WARNING LAKE SUPERIOR.
JLBThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 90 mph wind gust was recored by a co-op observer in Phoenix.
A 63 mph wind gust was reported at the Houghton County airport.
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, August 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: 5315823, 5315824.