Michigan, 2002

Hail and Lightning Strike in Michigan, June 17, 2002

June 17, 2002 · NWS DTX · 15 events in 9 counties and zones

An upper level disturbance interacting with cold air aloft caused numerous thunderstorms to develop across eastern Michigan during the afternoon and early evening on the 17th. Large hail was associated with many of these storms.

Where it happened

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.

  • 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
$30,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
15

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 DTX wrote it up.

An upper level disturbance interacting with cold air aloft caused numerous thunderstorms to develop across eastern Michigan during the afternoon and early evening on the 17th. Large hail was associated with many of these storms. Most of the strongest storms developed near Lakes Huron and Erie due to added convergence along lake breeze boundaries.

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 Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 17, 10:15 AM EST, 3 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 10:15 AM EST, 3 hours 28 minutes before
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
1115 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2002

UPDATE FOCUS IS ON THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS
TWO WEAK VORT CENTERS SWINGING AROUND THE UPPER LOW CURRENTLY
MOVING INTO QUEBEC. ONE OVER SOUTHEAST LOWER LEADING TO AN AREA OF
SHOWERS/ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS JUST CLEARING OUT OF THE METRO
DETROIT AREA. NEXT VORT UPSTREAM MOVING INTO NORTHERN LOWER AND WILL
BE OF INTEREST FOR THE AFTERNOON/EVENING...WITH A FEW SHOWERS
ALREADY APPARENT NORTHWEST OF THE CWA. SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A WEAK
TROUGH CROSSING LOWER MICHIGAN FROM CENTRAL LAKE MICHIGAN TO CENTRAL
LAKE HURON. OTHER THAN THE MORNING CONVECTION...EARLY VISIBLE
SATELLITE SHOWS MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA.

12Z RUC/ETA DROP THE NORTHERN VORT INTO THE CWA THIS EVENING...WITH
A WEAK FRONT/WAVE AT THE SURFACE. GENERALLY A WEAK GRADIENT BUT WITH
BOTH RUC/ETA DEPICTING SOME 925MB CONVERGENCE INTO THE EVENING.
INSTABILITY WILL BE A QUESTION FOR THE AFTERNOON WITH -23C COLD POOL
AT 500MB SHIFTING EAST WITH WARM ADVECTION BEGINNING. HOWEVER
850-500MB LAPSE RATES STILL NEAR 7C/KM. DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER 50S
POOLING ALONG THE TROUGH AFTER MORNING RAIN SHOWERS...WITH
TEMPERATURES CLIMBING INTO THE LOWER 70S. MODIFIED 12Z DTX SOUNDING
FOR T/TD OF 72/52 WOULD YIELD 2500J/KG OF CAPE. HOWEVER WITH WARM
ADVECTION THE GRB SOUNDING WOULD BE MORE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
AFTERNOON AIRMASS...AND YIELDS 1300J/KG CAPE WITH SAME INITIAL T/TD.
UPPER DIVERGENCE NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE...ALTHOUGH CWA LOCATED NEAR
GENERAL LEFT-EXIT OF 60KT 300MB JET. WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE AFTERNOON CARRIED INTO THE EVENING. CLIMBING
FREEZING LEVELS WITH THE WARMING COLUMN IN ADDITION TO MARGINAL WIND
FIELDS AND INSTABILITY SHOULD PRECLUDE SEVERE WEATHER.

WITH LINGERING LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AND GENERALLY STEEP LAPSE RATES
WITH THERMAL THROUGH STILL JUST SHIFTING EAST...EXPECT DECENT CU TO
DEVELOP BY AFTERNOON LEADING TO PARTY SUNNY SKIES.

.DTX...NONE.

BRAVENDER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 17, 9:44 AM EST, 3 hours 59 minutes before
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-180000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
1044 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2002

...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL STATEMENT FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN...

DISPATCHERS...PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS IMMEDIATELY.

HAZARD...
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH 8 PM. SEVERE WEATHER IS
NOT EXPECTED.

DISCUSSION...
AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL INTERACT WITH A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH
OVER LOWER MICHIGAN...LEADING TO A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST AT
30 MPH...AND WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL UP TO HALF AN INCH
IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

OUTLOOK FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS...FOR
THE LATEST FORECAST INFORMATION. YOU CAN ALSO OBTAIN THE LATEST
FORECAST ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE.

HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX/ (ALL LOWER CASE)

BRAVENDER

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:41 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, St. Clair

When
June 17, 1:43 PM EST
Where
St. Clair County, St Clair
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.833, -82.483

Hail, St. Clair

When
June 17, 1:45 PM EST
Where
St. Clair County, St Clair
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.833, -82.483

Hail, Wayne

When
June 17, 2:50 PM EST
Where
Wayne County, Flat Rock
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
42.083, -83.267

Hail, Saginaw

When
June 17, 4:05 PM EST
Where
Saginaw County, Fenmore
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.167, -84.350

Hail, Shiawassee

When
June 17, 4:25 PM EST
Where
Shiawassee County, Henderson
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.083, -84.200

Hail, Lapeer

When
June 17, 4:30 PM EST
Where
Lapeer County, 3 mi S of North Branch
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.183, -83.200

Hail, Bay

When
June 17, 4:38 PM EST
Where
Bay County, 7 mi W of Linwood
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.733, -84.100

Hail, Tuscola

When
June 17, 4:59 PM EST
Where
Tuscola County, 1 mi S of Akron
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.550, -83.517

Hail, Tuscola

When
June 17, 5:10 PM EST
Where
Tuscola County, Caro
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.483, -83.400

Hail, Tuscola

When
June 17, 5:35 PM EST
Where
Tuscola County, Kingston
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.417, -83.183

Hail, Lapeer

When
June 17, 5:43 PM EST
Where
Lapeer County, North Branch
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.233, -83.200

Hail, St. Clair

When
June 17, 5:50 PM EST
Where
St. Clair County, Smiths Creek
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.917, -82.600

Hail, St. Clair

When
June 17, 6:05 PM EST
Where
St. Clair County, 4 mi NW of St Clair
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.867, -82.533

Lightning, Oakland

When
June 17, 6:46 PM EST
Where
Oakland County, Ortonville
Property damage
$30,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
42.660, -83.386 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A newspaper reported that lightning struck a home in Brandon Township near Ortonville. The lightning hit the garage and set it on fire. No injuries were reported.

Hail, Macomb

When
June 17, 6:47 PM EST
Where
Macomb County, Sterling Hgts
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.567, -83.033

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, June 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: 5302534, 5302535, 5302536, 5302537, 5302538, 5302539, 5302540, 5302541, 5302542, 5302543, 5302544, 5302545, 5302546, 5302597, 5302596.