Scattered thunderstorms developed due to a warm and humid airmass and convergence along lake breeze fronts and a surface trough. A couple of these storms produced severe wind gusts.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 DTX wrote it up.
Scattered thunderstorms developed due to a warm and humid airmass and convergence along lake breeze fronts and a surface trough. A couple of these storms produced severe wind gusts.
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 26, 12:15 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 115 PM EDT WED JUN 26 2002 PLENTY OF MORNING CLOUDS ACROSS SOUTHEAST LOWER WILL DELAY ONSET OF ORGANIZED CONVECTION FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. AREA JUST NORTH OF THE SAGINAW BAY RECEIVED PLENTY OF SUNSHINE LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON AND CAPES HAVE JUMPED UP TO AROUND 3000J/KG...AND CONVECTION BEGINNING TO FIRE AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB THROUGH THE LOWER 80S. LATEST VISIBLE SATELLITE LOOP INDICATES CLEARING TREND OVER THUMB...SAGINAW AND GENESEE VALLEY AREA AND ANTICIPATE CONVECTION TO FIRE IN THIS REGION BETWEEN 2 AND 4 PM...AND SLIDE SOUTH THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. SURFACE FRONT STILL OVER THE WESTERN U.P. AND NORTHWEST WISCONSIN...AND MOVING VERY SLOWLY...IN ADDITION DEW POINTS REMAIN IN THE MID AND UPPER 60S INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT. MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT THROUGH 60 HOURS...WITH THE ETA A LITTLE SLOWER WITH THE SOUTHWARD PROGRESSION OF THE COLD FRONT. PREFER THE SLOWER ETA SOLUTION FOR SEVERAL REASONS. ETA HAS HANDLED THIS FRONT BETTER THAN THE AVN DURING THE LAST 24 HOURS...AND THE ETA 6-12 HOUR QPF FIELDS ARE MUCH BETTER THAN THE AVN FIELDS. THE ETA QPF FIELD SHOWS THE CONVECTION FIRING OVER THE NORTHERN SAGINAW VALLEY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND OVER NORTHERN INDIANA...JUST WHERE IT IS HAPPENING. THE AVN PICKS UP ON THE NORTHERN INDIANA CONVECTION BUT HAS NO CLUE IN REGARD TO CONVECTION OVER CENTRAL LOWER. WITH POTENTIAL FOR GOOD SURFACE HEATING NEXT FEW HOURS...MOST OF CWA SHOULD SEE CAPES CLIMB INTO THE 3000J/KG RANGE...IN ADDITION DEW POINT POOLING ACROSS THE SAGINAW VALLEY AND WEAK LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IN PLACE...THUS ANTICIPATE LINE OF CONVECTION IN THIS REGION AT OR BEFORE ZONE ISSUANCE...THUS WILL CONTINUE WITH LIKELY POPS THIS EVENING. VERTICAL WIND PROFILES STILL ANEMIC...THUS GREATEST SEVERE THREAT STILL APPEARS TO BE HAIL. MODELS ALSO SHOW A SERIES OF UPPER WAVES TO AFFECT SOUTHEAST LOWER...WITH THE ETA A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE. SECONDARY WAVE ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON A LITTLE CONCERNING AS FRONT BOGS DOWN OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA. ETA SHOWS A SURFACE WAVE DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT IN RESPONSE TO THIS WAVE...ALONG WITH A NORTHWARD SURGE OF SOME MODEST 850 MB THETA-E ADVECTION. MODELS STILL INDICATING CAPES AROUND 1000J/KG ACROSS THE FAR SOUTH THURSDAY AFTERNOON...THUS A MENTION OF THUNDER THROUGH THE DAY STILL LOOKS REASONABLE. BIG DIFFERENCE IN MODEL INSTABILITY AS WELL...WITH THE ETA SHOWING LIS AROUND -1 AND THE AVN AROUND +3 BY 18Z. FRONT TO CLEAR THE STATE BY THURSDAY EVENING...WITH COOLER/DRIER AIR MOVING INTO ALL OF SOUTHEAST LOWER. AVN POPS LOOK TOO LOW ON THURSDAY...THUS WILL LEAN TOWARD ETA/NGM GUIDANCE VALUES. .DTX...NONE. GSS
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:24 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported several large tree limbs and power lines blown down in thunderstorm winds.
Broadcast media reported some trees blown down and a roof partially blown off due to thunderstorm winds.
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, June 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: 5302685, 5302686.