Lake Michigan, 2008

Waterspout in Lake Michigan, September 7, 2008

September 7, 2008 · NWS APX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

A few strong to severe thunderstorms developed near the Lake Michigan coastline of Northwest Lower Michigan.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 APX wrote it up.

A few strong to severe thunderstorms developed near the Lake Michigan coastline of Northwest Lower Michigan.

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 Gaylord, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 7, 12:13 PM EST, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 7, 12:13 PM EST, 17 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 7, 3:18 AM EST, 9 hours 12 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The NCL Michigan radar (KAPX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 waterspout, 1 marine hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Waterspout, Sleeping Bear Point to Grand Traverse Light Mi

When
September 7, 12:30 PM EST
Where
Sleeping Bear Point to Grand Traverse Light Mi forecast zone, 7 mi WSW of Grand Traverse Light
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
45.171, -85.683

A spotter sighted a brief waterspout northwest of Northport.

Marine Hail, Sleeping Bear Point to Grand Traverse Light Mi

When
September 7, 9:16 PM EST
Where
Sleeping Bear Point to Grand Traverse Light Mi forecast zone, 1 mi W of Leland
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
45.020, -85.800

What these are

Waterspout
A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.
Marine Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger over water.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Lake Michigan in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather history

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 135944, 135945.