A strong cold front moved through Lower Michigan during the evening of March 28th. Temperatures warmed to near 70 degrees during the afternoon ahead of this front under strong southwest winds, gusting as high as 40 MPH.
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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.
A strong cold front moved through Lower Michigan during the evening of March 28th. Temperatures warmed to near 70 degrees during the afternoon ahead of this front under strong southwest winds, gusting as high as 40 MPH. Thunderstorms developed along and ahead of this cold front late in the afternoon over southwest Lower Michigan. These storms then moved across Eastern Michigan during the evening hours. Some of these storms produced wind gusts of 50 to 60 MPH.
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 Mar 28, 2:58 PM EST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 258 PM EST FRI MAR 28 2003 MODELS QUITE SIMILAR. AT THE SURFACE...COLD FRONT WHIPS THROUGH THIS EVENING...WITH ENTIRE LOW/FRONTAL SYSTEM CONTINUING EAST AND NORTHEAST SATURDAY...WITH BROAD CYCLONIC FLOW CONTINUING THROUGH SUNDAY FOLLOWED BY RIDGE. AT 500 MB...LARGE TROUGH WEST OF GREAT LAKES TO BE SHARPENED TONIGHT BY WELL DEFINED SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER NORTHERN PLAINS PLUNGING SOUTHEAST...SEEN IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. THIS ENTIRE HIGH AMPLITUDE 500 MB TROUGH THEN MOVING ACROSS GREAT LAKES DURING THE WEEKEND WHILE GETTING FURTHER REINFORCED. DEEPER MOISTURE...AS PER 850 TO 500 MB...EARLY TONIGHT PASSES OFF TO THE EAST WITH SUCH VERY MODEST AT BEST THEREAFTER INTO MONDAY. OMEGA LIFT SUPPLYING EXCELLENT DYNAMICS THIS EVENING...THEN WEAK SUBSIDENCE SETS IN LATE TONIGHT AND PREVAILS MOST OF WEEKEND. 850 TO 500 MB QVECTOR CONVERGENCE/LIFT MODEST THIS EVENING...THEN GOOD DIVERGENCE/SUBSIDENCE LATE TONIGHT AND MOST OF SATURDAY...SOME WEAK CONVERGENCE/LIFT BY SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH NEXT GOOD LIFT MONDAY NIGHT. 250 MB DIVERGENCE/850 MB CONVERGENCE COUPLING FAIRLY GOOD THIS EVENING AS WELL...AS WELL AS SURFACE CONVERGENCE AND 850 TO 500 MB FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING. WILL GO QUITE CLOSE TO GOING ZONES...AS GUIDANCE SIMILAR TO OVERNIGHT RUNS IN MOST RESPECTS. GOOD COOL DOWN LATE TONIGHT AS 850 MB TEMPERATURES DROP TO BELOW FREEZING WITH BROAD THERMAL TROUGH CONTINUING THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO MONDAY. WILL CONTINUE DRY FORECAST VERY LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MIDDAY SATURDAY...DUE TO SUBSIDENCE...AFTER WHICH TIME SOME DIURNAL EFFECT SHOULD AID LIGHT SNOW OR RAIN SHOWERS BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON WITH LOW LEVEL CYCLONIC FLOW...AT WHICH TIME EXPECT DEEP ENOUGH MOISTURE TO TAP MINUS 10C ISOTHERM AND ICE CRYSTALS FOR SNOWFLAKE PRODUCTION. LATER PERIODS... MODELS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT DEPICTING AT 500 MB HIGH AMPLITUDE TROUGH MOVING OFF TO THE EAST BY MONDAY...THEN BROAD RIDGE PREVAILING...THOUGH RIDGE SUPPRESSED SOMEWHAT BY WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH RIDING THE RIDGE TO ACROSS THE NORTHERN LAKES REGION LATE TUESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT FOLLOWED BY RIDGE A BIT MORE FIRMLY IN CONTROL THROUGH REST OF WORK WEEK. AT THE SURFACE...MODELS IN VERY GOOD CONSENSUS PIVOTING WARM FRONT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT BEHIND MONDAY WEAK RIDGE...THEN LOOKING SOMEWHAT UNSETTLED MOST OF NEXT WEEK...WITH WEAK LOW PASSING EAST ACROSS LAKES REGION AND ANOTHER WARM FRONT INTO AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY TIME FRAME. GFS SUBSEQUENTLY BRINGS LOW/COLD FRONT ON THROUGH BY SATURDAY. WILL CONTINUE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH THICKNESSES SHOWING MIX CHANGING TO ALL RAIN BY TUESDAY. WILL ALSO ADD CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS THURSDAY AND ADD THUNDER FOR FRIDAY...AS ETAXX SHOWS WARM SECTOR IN PLACE WITH INDICATIONS OF INCREASING APPROACHING CAPE/INSTABILITY AS PER ETAXX. .DTX...GALE WARNING...UNTIL LATE TONIGHT...LAKE HURON. DWD EXPERIMENTAL GRAPHICAL FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX (ALL LOWER CASE)
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-291000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 147 PM EST FRI MAR 28 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 80 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM. FOR GREATER DETAIL...SEE THE AREAL OUTLINE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 80. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AROUND MID AFTERNOON...INCLUDING THE CITIES OF MIDLAND...BAY CITY...AND SAGINAW. THUNDERSTORMS ARE THEN EXPECTED TO EXPAND FARTHER TO THE EAST AND SOUTH TOWARD EVENING. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH AND HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER ARE POSSIBLE. THERE IS ALSO THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISOLATED TORNADO. MEAN STORM MOTION WILL BE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS INDIANA AND LOWER MICHIGAN IN THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT. THIS COLD FRONT WILL PASS TO EAST OF THE REGION BY MIDNIGHT. GALE FORCE WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED ACROSS LAKE HURON THIS AFTERNOON AND MUCH OF TONIGHT. PLEASE SEE THE LAKE HURON FORECAST FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... DISPATCHERS PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS IMMEDIATELY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION HAS OCCURRED. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS...FOR THE LATEST FORECAST INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. YOU CAN ALSO OBTAIN THE LATEST FORECAST ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX/ (ALL LOWER CASE) DWD
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:29 UTC.
9 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotters reported that a very large tree was blown over in thunderstorm winds.
It was reported by spotters that a couple 4 inch diameter trees were blown down in thunderstorm winds.
A trained spotter measured a 60 MPH wind gust in a thunderstorm.
Law enforcement reported that thunderstorm winds blew over a power pole.
Spotters reported that several large tree limbs were blow down in thunderstorm winds.
Law enforcement reported that several trees and power lines were blown down in thunderstorm winds.
A wind gust of 60 MPH was estimated by law enforcement.
Law enforcement officials reported several large tree limbs were blown down in thunderstorm winds and knocked over several power lines.
A 70 MPH thunderstorm wind gust was measured by a trained spotter.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, March 2003
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: 5345934, 5345935, 5346019, 5346020, 5346021, 5346022, 5346023, 5346025, 5346024.