Several trees were blown down across portions of Kent and Ionia counties as isolated severe storms moved through.
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 GRR wrote it up.
Several trees were blown down across portions of Kent and Ionia counties as isolated severe storms moved through.
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 17, 9:50 AM EST, 39 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Rapids MI 1050 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016 LATEST UPDATE... Update .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 329 AM EDT Wed Aug 17 2016 Showers and thunderstorms are expected today as an upper disturbance moves through the Great Lakes region. The highest concentration of rain will be across Central Lower Michigan this morning, transitioning to interior portions of the state this afternoon. Mainly dry conditions are expected tonight. A few showers and storms are possible Thursday but many areas will remain dry. Chances for showers and storms increase over the weekend ahead of a more substantial front. High temperatures the next few days will slowly warm with low 80s today warming to the mid 80s by Friday. && .UPDATE... Issued at 1050 AM EDT Wed Aug 17 2016 A weakening low level jet continues to produce thunderstorms near Highway 10 and northward this morning. We sit under fairly solid instability with MUCapes slightly over 2K J/kg SE of GRR already late this morning...and 1-2K elsewhere. The front was just coming into Western MI and will be running into this instability. So although the best jet dynamics will be exiting the CWA soon, the front will still pop thunderstorms into this afternoon. Some of these storms could pulse up to near severe levels given the instability, but their life span should be short given the lack of good dynamics. The highest concentration of storms was already exiting the NE CWA this morning, so will keep POPs in the chance range 30 to 50% given the scattered nature of the storms. Pcpn totals will mainly stay under a half inch, so any additional flooding risk is low. && .SHORT TERM...(Today through Friday) Issued at 329 AM EDT Wed Aug 17 2016 Main concern through the short term period is determining chances for showers and storms. This favorable jet dynamics slides into Northern Lake Huron early this afternoon. Highest chances for showers and storms in the short term will come today as we will have the best support although it will be modest. A 20 knot low level jet will bring some weak moisture transport to the region. In the mid levels a shortwave trough will slowly work southeast through the region. Have 40-60 pct chances for showers and storms today. Severe weather is not expected given deep layer shear on the order of 25 knots or less. CAPE values on the order of 1000- 2000 j/kg are forecast via the ECMWF. A few storms may linger into the evening hours, but the bulk of the night should be dry. Areas of fog are once again a possibility tonight. Thursday we may see an isolated storm or two across Southern Lower Michigan, but not seeing much in the way of support for convection. Instability increases just a bit with values exceeding 2000 j/kg. Low level moisture increases further on Friday and CAPE values correspondingly increase as well. Lack of upper support or a low level focus keeps chances very low though on the order of 20-30 pct. .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Tuesday) Issued at 329 AM EDT Wed Aug 17 2016 Very warm and humid conditions will persist Friday night and Saturday with scattered showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms Friday night. A strong approaching cold front will bring the best chance for thunderstorms Saturday into Saturday evening. The combination of strong shear and decent lift from the approaching front and ample low level moisture and moisture transport all suggest that some strong to potentially severe convection will be possible. There is potential for a few showers and perhaps some convection to linger into Sunday depending on exact timing of fropa through our fcst area which is still a little uncertain. A significantly cooler and drier airmass will advect in behind the front for Sunday night into early next week, when high temps will only reach the 70's. Low temps will likely dip all the way down into the 40's for several nights early next week across our northern fcst area. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Thursday morning) Issued at 732 AM EDT Wed Aug 17 2016 VFR clouds were in place at the TAF sites this morning, although VLIFR stratus and fog were poised just south of KAZO and KBTL. Very plausible some of this may work into KAZO/KBTL and KJXN for a time this morning. Kept things optimistic for now thinking that sunrise and better wind fields nosing in may keep the stratus/fog at bay. Focus then shifts to the showers over Lake Michigan at 12z. These showers are associated with an upper level disturbance which may touch of additional showers/storms today as it moves east. Confidence in the coverage and evolution of showers/storms is not high. Therefore, have VCTS in the TAFs at most locations for the midday, afternoon and evening hours. Tonight, skies may try to clear out leading to fog formation at all sites. Potential is there for widespread stratus and fog after 06z. && .MARINE... Issued at 329 AM EDT Wed Aug 17 2016 Wind and waves will be up a bit this morning into early afternoon as a low level jet passes over the lake. 10 to 20 knot southwest winds this morning will kick waves towards 3 feet. The Ludington Buoy has 3 footers as of 329 AM. A lull in winds and waves are expected this afternoon through Thursday. The next period of concern on the lake looks to be Thursday night into Friday as southwest winds strengthen ahead of a cold front. Winds approaching 20 knots from the southwest may push waves towards advisory criteria then. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 330 PM EDT Tue Aug 16 2016 Widespread 1"-5" of rain occurred over the last 24 hours across the region east of a line from Holland to Clare. This led to numerous instances of both urban and rural flooding of roads and farmlands as well as river flooding. River levels will continue to be elevated for several days on the Kalamazoo River as well as smaller rivers. No major flooding is expected but some homes, roadways, and farmland may be subject to water impacts due to the higher river levels. While widespread heavy rain is not expected this week, there will be periods of showers and thunderstorms. Basin average precipitation will not be significant given the more scattered nature of the rains. Rivers will likely begin falling after crests over the next few days. Additional precipitation for the weekend will need to be monitored given very saturated soils that will not be able to absorb much rain. && .GRR Watches/Warnings/Advisories... MI...None. LM...None. && UPDATE...JK SYNOPSIS...Duke SHORT TERM...Duke LONG TERM...Laurens AVIATION...Duke HYDROLOGY...Hoving MARINE...Duke
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 557 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016 MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-181000- MASON-LAKE-OSCEOLA-CLARE-OCEANA-NEWAYGO-MECOSTA-ISABELLA-MUSKEGON- MONTCALM-GRATIOT-OTTAWA-KENT-IONIA-CLINTON-ALLEGAN-BARRY-EATON- INGHAM-VAN BUREN-KALAMAZOO-CALHOUN-JACKSON- 557 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FROM THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN TODAY. FLOODING WILL CONTINUE IN LOW LYING AREAS AND ALONG SOME RIVERS IN SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN DUE TO RECENT HEAVY RAIN. FOG IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT...SOME AREAS MAY BECOME LOCALLY DENSE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED THURSDAY OR FRIDAY. A BETTER CHANCE OF STORMS EXISTS SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THIS TIME AS A STRONG COLD FRONT SWEEPS THROUGH THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LMZ844>849-181000- 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- 557 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINDS AND WAVES WILL INCREASE THIS MORNING INTO THE 2 TO 4 FOOT RANGE NORTH OF HOLLAND. A MODERATE SWIM RISK CAN BE EXPECTED NORTH OF HOLLAND. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER LAKE MICHIGAN TODAY...WITH THE BEST CHANCES OCCURRING THIS MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY OVER LAKE MICHIGAN WITH A MUCH BETTER CHANCE OCCURRING ON SATURDAY. LARGE WAVES ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY NORTH OF HOLLAND AND IN ALL AREAS SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. WAVES OVER THE WEEKEND COULD BE LARGE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. DUKE
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 1103 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016 MIZ051-057-058-171530- IONIA-KENT-MONTCALM- 1103 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHWESTERN IONIA...CENTRAL KENT AND EASTERN MONTCALM COUNTIES... AT 1103 AM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHVIEW... MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM WAS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY. HALF INCH HAIL IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... GRAND RAPIDS...GREENVILLE...BELDING...STANTON...WALKER... EAST GRAND RAPIDS...ROCKFORD...NORTHVIEW...FOREST HILLS...GRATTAN... CRYSTAL...SIDNEY...SHERIDAN...MCBRIDE...SMYRNA...FENWICK...BELMONT... TURK LAKE...VESTABURG AND GOWEN. LAT...LON 4294 8566 4308 8572 4344 8490 4317 8486 TIME...MOT...LOC 1503Z 253DEG 15KT 4301 8559 WDM
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1127 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016
MIZ051-052-057>059-171630-
CLINTON MI-IONIA MI-GRATIOT MI-KENT MI-MONTCALM MI-
1127 AM EDT WED AUG 17 2016
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR IONIA...NORTHWESTERN CLINTON...
SOUTHERN KENT...GRATIOT AND SOUTHEASTERN MONTCALM COUNTIES UNTIL 1230
PM EDT...
AT 1127 AM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM BELDING TO WYOMING. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT
40 MPH.
DIME SIZE HAIL AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
THESE STORMS.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
GRAND RAPIDS... IONIA... GREENVILLE...
BELDING... PORTLAND... LOWELL...
ITHACA... WYOMING... KENTWOOD...
WALKER... EAST GRAND RAPIDS... SARANAC...
CARSON CITY... FOREST HILLS... NORTHVIEW...
GRANDVILLE... ADA... GRATTAN...
ORLEANS... CRYSTAL...
LAT...LON 4278 8497 4286 8578 4291 8578 4313 8542
4342 8437 4325 8437
TIME...MOT...LOC 1527Z 258DEG 33KT 4310 8520 4292 8570
JKThe Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:26 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A couple of trees were blown down near Ada and a report of three quarters inch diameter hail was also received.
Trees fell on two homes in Ionia and numerous tree limbs were blown down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, August 2016
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: 654692, 654693.