There were several reports of large hail of around an inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter on August 14th. Isolated wind damage also occurred across portions of Kalamazoo and Jackson counties, were several trees were blown down.
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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 GRR wrote it up.
There were several reports of large hail of around an inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter on August 14th. Isolated wind damage also occurred across portions of Kalamazoo and Jackson counties, were several trees were blown down.
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 Aug 14, 1:32 PM EST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 232 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 LATEST UPDATE... SYNOPSIS/SHORT TERM/LONG TERM/MARINE .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 232 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT WILL LEAD TO A VERY WARM WEEKEND WITH HIGHS NEAR 90 ALONG WITH HUMID CONDITIONS. MORE SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 232 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 FORECAST CONCERNS DEAL WITH THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL THIS EVENING. RADAR HAS BEEN LIGHTING UP ACROSS THE UP THIS AFTERNOON AS WELL AS NORTHEAST LOWER. A FEW CELLS HAVE RECENTLY DEVELOP OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL CWA WHERE THERE IS PLENTY OF JUICE TO WORK WITH. LATEST MESOANALYSIS SHOWS SURFACE BASED CAPE CLOSE TO 5K J/KG AND LI/S AROUND -9C. SHEAR IS A BIT LACKING THOUGH AROUND 20-25 KTS...BUT IN LINE WITH MODEL GUIDANCE. A WEAK COLD FRONT IS MEANDERING ITS WAY SOUTH AND LAYS ACROSS NORTHERN LOWER...BUT IT/S BEGINNING TO BE INDISTINQUISHABLE. A BETTER KICKER MAY BE THE SHORT WAVE SEEN IN WV IMAGERY OVER NORTHEAST WISCONSIN MOVING SOUTHEAST. THE POTENTIAL FOR PULSE TYPE STORMS EXISTS THIS EVENING WITH A CHANCE THAT A COUPLE COULD BECOME STRONG. THE THREAT WILL FADE AS THERMODYNAMICS DECREASE THIS EVENING. THE STRONGEST STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL LIKELY BE LOCATED EAST OF US-131 FROM 4-8 PM. SINCE THE COLD FRONT IS WASHING OUT...TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WILL BE HOT WITH HIGHS AROUND 90. DEWPOINTS IN THE 60S WILL RESULT IN HUMID CONDITIONS AS WELL. .LONG TERM...(MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 232 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT ON SHOWING A VIGOROUS MID LEVEL WAVE ARRIVING FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. BASED ON THE STRENGTH OF THE WINDS AN ELEVATED RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER EXISTS. MESOSCALE FEATURES ALTER TIMING STRENGTH AND LOCATION OF ANY CONVECTION. WILL FEATURE THE HIGHEST POPS FOR THE MIDDLE PART OF THE WEEK DUE TO THIS PASSING WAVE. AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WE WILL SEE WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. VALUES IN THE MID 80S LIKELY FOR MONDAY. HOWEVER BEHIND THE FRONT A COOL DOWN IS EXPECTED WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES BY THURSDAY. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 138 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 MVFR CEILING CONTINUE BROKEN TO SCATTERED FOR PARTS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MI. THIS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO BE AN ISSUE FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP AND IF ENCOUNTERED WILL LIKELY CAUSE AVIATION IMPACTS. FOR NOW WILL FEATURE A VCTS FOR KLAN AND KJXN AS INLAND LOCATIONS LOOK MORE FAVORED. WILL NEED TO MONITOR THE THREAT THROUGH THE EVENING. FOG WILL LIKELY DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT AND COULD PERSIST WELL INTO THE MORNING. && .MARINE... ISSUED AT 232 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 NO MARINE HAZARDS DUE TO RELATIVELY LIGHT WINDS. && .HYDROLOGY... ISSUED AT 1150 AM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 RIVERS HAVE MOSTLY RECOVERED FROM RAINFALL EARLIER THIS WEEK... THOUGH SOME SITES IN THE UPPER GRAND BASIN ARE RUNNING ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. FRIDAY AFTERNOON-EVENING SHOWERS/STORMS MAINLY IN MID MICHIGAN WILL BE CAPABLE OF BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL. FLOODING IS NOT PARTICULARLY LIKELY AS MOST STORMS WILL TEND TO RAIN OUT OR PROPAGATE ELSEWHERE BEFORE TOO LONG. && .GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...NONE. LM...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...04 SHORT TERM...04 LONG TERM...MJS AVIATION...MJS HYDROLOGY...CAS MARINE...04
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 130 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-150800- MASON-LAKE-OSCEOLA-CLARE-OCEANA-NEWAYGO-MECOSTA-ISABELLA-MUSKEGON- MONTCALM-GRATIOT-OTTAWA-KENT-IONIA-CLINTON-ALLEGAN-BARRY-EATON- INGHAM-VAN BUREN-KALAMAZOO-CALHOUN-JACKSON- 130 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE PRIMARY RISKS. THE STORMS WILL BE TRACKING SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 20 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA ON MONDAY AND STALL NEAR MICHIGAN FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK. AS A RESULT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE EACH DAY FROM MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH THIS COMING WEEK. LMZ844>849-150800- ST JOSEPH TO SOUTH HAVEN MI-SOUTH HAVEN TO HOLLAND MI- HOLLAND TO GRAND HAVEN MI-GRAND HAVEN TO WHITEHALL MI- WHITEHALL TO PENTWATER MI-PENTWATER TO MANISTEE MI- 130 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER LAKE MICHIGAN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. GUSTY WINDS AND LARGE HAIL COULD ACCOMPANY THE STRONGEST STORMS. CLOUD TO WATER LIGHTNING STRIKES WILL ALSO POSE A RISK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA ON MONDAY AND STALL NEAR MICHIGAN FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK. AS A RESULT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE EACH DAY FROM MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH THIS COMING WEEK. WDM MJS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
236 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015
MIZ039-044-045-051-141915-
MECOSTA MI-OSCEOLA MI-NEWAYGO MI-MONTCALM MI-
236 PM EDT FRI AUG 14 2015
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...
AT 234 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A DEVELOPING CLUSTER OF
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM NEAR REED CITY
TO 7 MILES EAST OF NEWAYGO...AND MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
HALF INCH HAIL AND WIND GUSTS AT LEAST 40 MPH WITH SOME DOWNED TREE
LIMBS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN SOME OF THESE STORMS.
THESE STORMS MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
LAT...LON 4416 8509 4329 8509 4330 8588 4381 8588
4382 8556 4417 8556
TIME...MOT...LOC 1834Z 286DEG 15KT 4384 8549 4341 8565
CASThe Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:47 UTC.
4 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The broadcast media reported that hail of up to an inch and a quarter in diameter was observed just north of Howard City.
A trained spotter reported hail up to an inch and a quarter in diameter near 100th avenue and 3 mile road.
Trained spotters reported hail up to an inch and a quarter in diameter near Greenville.
A trained spotter reported that hail up to an inch in diameter fell near Charlotte.
Jackson county dispatch reported that several trees were blown down across portions of the county.
A trained spotter reported that a couple of large healthy trees were blown down in downtown Kalamazoo.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, August 2015
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: 597638, 597639, 597640, 597641, 597642, 597643.