Michigan, 2002

Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, June 20, 2002

June 20, 2002 · NWS MQT · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

Thunderstorms ahead of a weak cold front impacted mainly western Upper Michigan overnight on June 19th and into the morning of the 20th. Some of these storms became severe during the early morning of the 20th, with large hail and/or damaging wind gusts in Ontonagon, Houghton and Baraga Counties.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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.

Thunderstorms ahead of a weak cold front impacted mainly western Upper Michigan overnight on June 19th and into the morning of the 20th. Some of these storms became severe during the early morning of the 20th, with large hail and/or damaging wind gusts in Ontonagon, Houghton and Baraga Counties.

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 Jun 19, 9:40 PM EST, 4 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 9:40 PM EST, 4 hours 38 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1040 PM EDT WED JUN 19 2002

MAIN FCST CONCERNS OVERNIGHT ARE SHRA/TSRA TIMING/COVERAGE/STRENGTH.

WV IMAGERY...00Z RAOBS AND RUC ANALYSIS INDICATED STRONG SHRTWV FROM
SW MANITOBA INTO CNTRL ND. AT THE SFC...LOW PRES WAS LOCATED OVER SW
ONTARIO WITH A COLD FRONT FROM NEAR KBDE TO THE SW CORNER OF MN.
STRONG 925-850 MB THETA-E ADVECTION WITH 50-55 KT WINDS (PER KMPX
SNDG AND KDLH/KMQT VAD WND PRFL) SUPPORTED BATCH OF TSRA MOVING NE
THROUGH WRN LK SUPERIOR. MAIN AREA OF TSTMS WERE LOCATED ALONG AND
AHEAD OF THE FRONT WHERE NE SWEEP OF SHRTWV HAS HELPED ADDED MORE
NRLY COMPONENT TO TSRA MOVEMENT. FARTHER EAST SUBSTANTIAL CAP AND
CINH...PER KMPX AND KGRB SNDGS HAVE PRECLUDED PREFRONTAL CONVECTION.
SFC BASED LI NEAR -7C (PER MSAS ANALYSIS) AND CAPE NEAR 2500 OVER
CNTRL MN DROP OFF QUICKLY TOWARD UPR MI. INSTABILITY AND IMPRESSIVE
0-3 KM SHEAR/HELICITY HAS SUPPORTED SVR POTENTIAL.

EXTRAPOLATED MOVEMENT OF MCS WOULD BRING TSRA INTO WEST BY
06Z...CNTRL AROUND 08Z AND EAST AFT 09Z. SATELLITE AND RADAR TRENDS
ALSO SUGGEST BEST COVERAGE SHOULD BE ACRS THE NW HLF OF UPR MI.
WHILE SHEAR REMAINS VERY FAVORABLE...RELATIVELY WEAK MUCAPE VALUES
NEAR 1000 J/KG OVER THE SW (LIFTING FROM 800 MB) SUGGEST STORMS
SHOULD WEAKEN. GIVEN STRONG DYNAMICS AND WIND FIELDS...CANNOT RULE
SOME ISOLD LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WIND OVER THE FAR WEST...PER SPC
OUTLOOK. FARTHER EAST...LACK OF INSTABILITY SHOULD KEEP STORMS BLO
SVR LIMITS. BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL MAY ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH PWAT
VALUES AOA 1.50 INCH.

.MQT...NONE.

JLB

The radar

The Marquette radar (KMQT), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:18 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Houghton

When
June 20, 2:18 AM EST
Where
Houghton County, Redridge
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.150, -88.767

Nickle sized hail was reported.

Hail, Ontonagon

When
June 20, 2:20 AM EST
Where
Ontonagon County, 3 mi E of Bruce Crossing
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.533, -89.117

Three quarter inch hail was reported.

Thunderstorm Wind, Houghton

When
June 20, 2:23 AM EST
Where
Houghton County, 7 mi NW of Houghton
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.183, -88.683

A 14 inch diameter tree was blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Baraga

When
June 20, 3:30 AM EST
Where
Baraga County, 3 mi W of Baraga
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.783, -88.550

An eight inch diameter popple tree and several smaller trees were blown down.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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: 5302505, 5302507, 5302506, 5302508.