4 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 3:00 AM EST, 12 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 400 AM EDT SUN MAY 23 2004 .SHORT TERM... OUR RADAR IS BACK UP AND RUNNING AFTER BEING DOWN SINCE A LIGHTNING STRIKE ON THURSDAY MORNING. SEVERE WEATHER AND HYDRO ISSUES TODAY ARE THE FOCUS OF THIS FORECAST. WILL GO WITH A FLOOD WARNING FOR THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA THROUGH MIDNIGHT AS RIVERS ARE NEAR OR AT FLOOD STAGE AT MANY POINTS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA AND MORE WIDESPREAD...POTENTIALLY HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TODAY. RADAR TRENDS AND MODEL DATA INDICATE THAT THE AXIS OF HEAVIER RAIN WILL BE ACROSS THE NORTHERN FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AS FOR SEVERE...MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA IS OUTLOOKED FOR A MODERATE RISK TODAY...AND THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE ROUND OF WIDESPREAD CONVECTION AS LONG LIVED DERECHO MOVING INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS ATTM MAY BE MOVING ACROSS SW LOWER MICHIGAN THIS MORNING AND ANOTHER BATCH THIS AFTERNOON AS AIRMASS RECOVERS AND MID LEVELS COOL IN RESPONSE TO MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE APPROACH. ETA BUFKIT SOUNDINGS AT SBN AND AZO SHOW MID LEVEL CAP ERODING IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. SHEAR PROFILES AND LOW LCL HEIGHTS SUGGEST TORNADO POTENTIAL AS WELL. EXPECT SECOND BATCH OF CONVECTION TO MOVE EAST DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH LEFTOVER SCATTERED STRATIFORM RAINS PERSISTING OVERNIGHT. A BRIEF RESPITE FOLLOWS FOR MONDAY...BUT ANOTHER SHORTWAVE APPROACHES TUESDAY AND BRINGS ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN AND POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER. SOME TIMING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MODELS WITH THIS SYSTEM. THE ETA HAS THE BULK OF THE PRECIP GONE BY 00Z WED WHILE THE GFS SHOWS A LARGE AREA OF CONVECTIVE RAINS PERSISTING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN FORECAST AREA THROUGH 12Z WED. WILL LEAVE TUESDAY NIGHT DRY FOR NOW. .LONG TERM... LONG WAVE PATTERN SHOWS AN UPPER TROUGH DEVELOPING BY WEDNESDAY WHICH SHOULD HELP SHUNT THE PERSISTENT BOUNDARY THAT HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF HEAVY RAIN ACROSS LOWER MICHIGAN FURTHER SOUTH. THIS SHOULD BRING IN GENERALLY FAIR AND COOLER WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. THE TROUGH MOVES EAST WITH RISING HEIGHTS AND SOME MOISTURE IN RETURN FLOW ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...BRINGING THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE END OF THE WEEK. && .GRR...FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT ENTIRE CWA THROUGH MIDNIGHT. && OSTUNO
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 1032 AM EDT SUN MAY 23 2004 MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-241000- ALLEGAN-BARRY-CALHOUN-CLARE-CLINTON-EATON-GRATIOT-INGHAM-IONIA- ISABELLA-JACKSON-KALAMAZOO-KENT-LAKE-MASON-MECOSTA-MONTCALM-MUSKEGON- NEWAYGO-OCEANA-OSCEOLA-OTTAWA-VAN BUREN- 1021 AM EDT SUN MAY 23 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS ALL OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THE STORMS TODAY INCLUDE HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH...AS WELL AS HEAVY RAINFALL THAT COULD CAUSE ADDITIONAL FLOODING. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH STORMS THAT FORM LATE THIS AFTERNOON. STORM MOTION WILL BE FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH. FLOODING REMAINS A THREAT THROUGH THE DAY AND TONIGHT. MOST RIVERS AND STREAMS IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN ARE NEAR BANKFULL. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TODAY AND TONIGHT WILL ONLY ADD TO THE FLOODING PROBLEM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY AS ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM FORMS NEAR IOWA AND MOVES EAST INTO LOWER MICHIGAN. THE RIVER FLOODING THREAT WILL CONTINUE AT LEAST THROUGH MID WEEK. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS LOW PRESSURE FROM THE PLAINS STATES APPROACHES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. OSTUNO MWH
MIZ051-052-056>059-064>067-071>074-232100-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1129 AM EDT SUN MAY 23 2004
THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS
OF THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF LOWER MICHIGAN EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM EDT
SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL MICHIGAN
MONTCALM AND GRATIOT
IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
KENT...ALLEGAN...BARRY...KALAMAZOO...VAN BUREN AND OTTAWA
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN
IONIA...CLINTON...INGHAM...EATON...JACKSON AND CALHOUN
THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS OF AFFECTED
LAKESHORE COUNTIES.
A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES. IF YOU
LIVE IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA YOU SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE
LOCAL NEWS OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
MWHThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
An emergency manager reported one and a quarter inch diameter hail in Bedford.
Numerous trees were reported to have been blown down in Prairieville, Johnstown and Assyria townships by an emergency manager.
One and three quarters inch diameter hail was reported by law enforcement in Charlotte.
Numerous large tree limbs were blown down across Allegan county.
A three foot diameter tree was blown down onto a car by severe thunderstorm wind gusts.
Three quarters inch diameter hail was reported in New Era by amateur radio operators.
Law enforcement in Brohman reported three quarters inch diameter hail.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, May 2004
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: 5402216, 5402217, 5402298, 5402299, 5402300, 5402301, 5402302.