Hail in Michigan, July 2, 2002

Name: Hail in Michigan, July 2, 2002
Start: 2002-07-02T21:50
End: 2002-07-02T21:50
Location: Michigan

July 2, 2002 · NWS MQT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold front pushed across Upper Michigan during the evening of July 2, triggering thunderstorms over the Upper Peninsula. One of the storms over Schoolcraft County produced penny sized hail.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 MQT wrote it up.

A cold front pushed across Upper Michigan during the evening of July 2, triggering thunderstorms over the Upper Peninsula. One of the storms over Schoolcraft County produced penny sized hail.

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 Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 2, 8:08 PM EST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 8:08 PM EST, 1 hour 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
908 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

MAIN FCST CONCERN IS CNVCTN ACROSS CWA

00Z WV LOOP SHOWED NRLY ZONAL FLOW FROM THE PAC NW INTO QUEBEC. WEAK
SHRTWV RIDING IN THIS FLOW WAS OVR N MN AT 00Z. 00Z RAOB AT CWPL
SHOWED A 115 KT UPR JET...WHICH WOULD PUT UPR MI IN THE RRQ IN A FEW
HOURS. AT THE SFC...WARM FRONT EXTENDS FROM LOW PRESSURE IN SE SD TO
NW WI AND ALONG HIGHWAY M-28 IN UPR MI. TO THE S OF THIS FRONT IS
THE HOT AND HUMID AIR MASS THAT UPR MI HAS BEEN IN THE LAST FEW
DAYS...WITH TEMPS NR 90F AND DWPTS IN THE LOW 70S. N OF THE
FRONT...SLIGHTLY COOLER AND DRIER AIR WITH DWPTS IN THE UPR 50S AT
CMX...P59 AND ON ISLE ROYALE. DRIER AIR ALSO TO THE W AT INL AND
BIS...WITH K-INDICES BLO 15 ON THEIR 00Z SNDGS. THE COMBINATION OF
LIFT FROM THE SHRTWV...UPR DIVGC...LLVL CNVGC AND 2000-3000 J/KG OF
CAPE ALONG THE FRONT HAS LED TO SCT -TSRA OVER NW WI AND UPR MI. THE
TSTMS ARE CONFINED TO THE BOUNDARY BECAUSE TO THE S IT IS SLIGHTLY
CAPPED AND TO THE N OVR NORTHERN LK SUPERIOR IT IS TOO DRY. A COUPLE
THINGS HAVE BEEN KEEPING THE TSTMS FROM BECOMING SVR...LIGHT WINDS
AT 850MB (UNDER 15 KTS)...0-6 KM SHEAR VALUES AOB 40 KTS AND FRZNG
LVLS AROUND 15KFT. MAIN THREAT FROM THEM IS HVY RAIN DUE TO
K-INDICES OF 35-40 AND PWS BTWN 1.75 AND 2 INCHES.

21Z RUC SHOWS 500MB FLOW REAMPLIFYING...WITH A RIDGE BUILDING UP
THROUGH THE N PLAINS. THIS WL PUT UPR MI IN NW FLOW ALOFT...WHICH
SHOULD HELP IN PROPELLING THE FRONT OVR UPR MI...ALONG WITH THE
SHRA/TSRA...EASTWARD. 21Z RUC INDICATES THE FRONT WL STRETCH FROM
ERY TO IMT BY 09Z...AND THE 18Z ETA SAYS IT WL BE INTO N LK MI BY
12Z. WL TRY TO PUT SOME ENDING TIME OF SCT -TSRA...SINCE THEY WL BE
CONFINED TO THE E SIDE OF THE FRONT. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF SOME
CLRING SKIES...BUT MAINLY IN THE W LATE WHERE DRY AIR FROM MN AND ND
FILTERS IN BEHIND THE FRONT.

EXPECTING TEMPS TO BE COOLER THAN THE LAST FEW NIGHTS IN W AND N
CNTRL UPR MI WHERE THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH. S CNTRL AND ERN MI WL
LIKELY SEE LOWS AGAIN NR 70F DUE TO HIGH DWPTS AND CLOUDS.

.MQT...NONE.

AJ/KC

The radar

The Marquette radar (KMQT), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:51 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Schoolcraft

When: July 2, 9:50 PM EST
Where: Schoolcraft County, Seney
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.350, -85.950

Penny sized hail was reported.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Michigan in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Michigan, July 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: 5310543.