Michigan, 2002

Flash Flooding in Michigan, August 23, 2002

August 23, 2002 · NWS GRR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Several inches of rain in only two to three hours caused flash flooding in Kalamazoo, where two homes and two businesses sustained extensive damage. Waldo Stadium, on the campus of Western Michigan University, also had major flooding problems.

Where it happened

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.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$250,000
Crop damage
$15,000
Events
2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GRR wrote it up.

Several inches of rain in only two to three hours caused flash flooding in Kalamazoo, where two homes and two businesses sustained extensive damage. Waldo Stadium, on the campus of Western Michigan University, also had major flooding problems. At one point, three feet of standing water covered the entire football field. A girl who was walking by Arcadia Creek near the downtown Burger King was swept downstream by the flood waters. Very fortunately, she was able to avoid trouble by landing on a grassy area. The heavy rain also caused several accidents and also several cars to stall in Kalamazoo. More than two inches of rain also fell in a short time in Jackson, causing an underpass to be flooded on Jackson Street north of Glick Highway, where several cars got stuck in up to three feet of standing water.

What forecasters said that day

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 Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 23, 9:55 AM EST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 9:55 AM EST, 4 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1055 AM EDT FRI AUG 23 2002

...UPDATED FOR AFTERNOON WORDING...

ACTUALLY THE GOING FORECAST IS FINE.  A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT
REMAINS OVER NRN OHIO TO A WAVE / DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE CENTER
OVER EASTERN IOWA (14Z).  WV LOOPS AND UPPER AIR DATA SUGGEST THERE
IS A SOUTHERN STREAM SHORTWAVE OVER IOWA ASSOCIATED WITH THAT
DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW.  THE PROBLEM IS THAT NOT ONLY IS THERE A
SOUTHERN STREAM SHORTWAVE... BUT THERE IS ALSO A NORTHERN STREAM
SHORTWAVE OVER CENTRAL MANITOBA DIVING SOUTHEAST TOWARD THE NRN
GREAT LAKES.  THE NRN STREAM WAVE PUSHING SOUTHEAST IS HELPING TO
KEEP THE SRN STREAM WAVE TO THE SOUTH.  THE RESULT IS ALL THE
FORCING FOR SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS STAYING SOUTH OF MICHIGAN
THIS AFTERNOON.  ONCE AGAIN THE ETA IS THE ODD MODEL OUT AND
FORECASTING SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL ANYWAY... POSSIBLY BECAUSE IT
DEVELOPS A MORE SIGNIFICANT INVERTED TROUGH OVER LOWER MICHIGAN
THAN DOES THE AVN... RUC OR NGM.  ALSO THE ETA IS THE ONLY MODEL TO
MOVE THE SFC LOW INTO LOWER MICHIGAN BY 00Z.  GIVEN THE DIGGING NRN
STREAM WAVE AND THE FRONT SHOWING LITTLE PUSH NORTH OVER THE PAST
FEW HOURS CAUSES ME TO BELIEVE THE ETA IS OVER FORECASTING RAINFALL
THIS AFTERNOON (THE LACK OF UPSTREAM RAINFALL ON THE NEAR BY RADARS
HELPS ME BELIEVE THAT TOO).  MEANWHILE... THERE WILL BE A WEAK 850
LOW THAT TRACKS EAST OVER LOWER MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON.  THAT WILL
BRING SOME OF THAT SUBTROPICAL OVER THE SHALLOW LAYER OF COOL AIR AT
THE SURFACE.  THE RESULT WILL BE LOW CLOUDS WITH PATCHY DRIZZLE
(LANSING HAD DRIZZLE AT 1055 AM).  SO... FOR ALL THE DIFFERENCE IT
MAKES... I WILL GO WITH CLOUDY SKIES AND SCATTERED SHOWERS.  HIGHS
SHOULD STAY BELOW 75F DUE TO THE THICK LAYERED CLOUDS.

ZONES BY 1120 AM.

.GRR...NONE.

WDM

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Kalamazoo

When
August 23, 2:00 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Kalamazoo County, Kalamazoo
Property damage
$200,000
Crop damage
$10,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.245, -85.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Jackson

When
August 23, 5:30 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Jackson County, Jackson
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
42.249, -84.423 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Michigan in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, August 2002

Sources

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: 5315456, 5315457.