Overview
The remnants of a moisture-laden low pressure system that caused historic flooding in Louisiana tracked into the Great Lakes region late on August 15 into the 16th, bringing heavy rainfall to much of Southeast Michigan during the overnight and early morning hours of the 16th. Rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were common, with isolated totals in excess of 3.5 inches. Flooding closed several major roads in the Metro Detroit and Tri-Cities areas, and the Clinton River briefly reached minor flood stage.Radar:
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| Radar Loop 8 pm August 15 to 10 am August 16 |
Rain Reports
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| Rainfall Reports - Metro Detroit | Rainfall Reports - Flint/Tri-Cities/Thumb |
Public Information Statement...Storm Totals
National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI
535 PM EDT Tue Aug 16 2016
STORM TOTAL HEAVY RAIN REPORTS
Location Precip Duration
(Inches) (Hours) Lat Lon
...Bay County...
Auburn M 1.82 24 43.60N 84.08W
Kawkawlin M 2.80 12 43.65N 83.95W
5 SW Bay City M 3.75 9 43.54N 83.97W
...Genesee County...
Flint M 2.23 24 43.02N 83.69W
Linden M 2.29 24 42.82N 83.78W
Sw Clio M 2.57 24 43.18N 83.74W
...Huron County...
Port Austin M 1.10 24 44.04N 83.00W
2 ENE Ivanhoe M 1.35 24 43.72N 83.06W
Bad Axe M 1.42 24 43.80N 83.00W
2 WSW Pinnebog M 2.20 8 43.92N 83.14W
5 N Elkton M 2.90 10 43.89N 83.18W
Harbor Beach M 3.20 9 43.85N 82.65W
...Lapeer County...
2 W Lapeer M 2.02 8.5 43.05N 83.36W
...Lenawee County...
Blissfield M 1.04 9 41.83N 83.86W
Tecumseh M 1.52 9 42.01N 83.94W
2 WNW Tipton M 1.57 9 42.03N 84.10W
Onsted M 1.73 8 42.01N 84.19W
Clinton M 2.59 12 42.07N 83.97W
...Livingston County...
1 N Whitmore Lake M 1.84 24 42.44N 83.75W
5 WSW Fenton M 2.10 10 42.77N 83.81W
3 NW Pinckney M 2.19 10 42.49N 83.99W
4 SSW Howell M 2.25 6 42.56N 83.97W
Fowlerville M 2.50 24 42.66N 84.07W
...Macomb County...
Roseville M 1.93 5 42.51N 82.94W
Nw Sterling Heights M 2.00 6 42.58N 83.03W
4 NNW Richmond M 2.05 24 42.86N 82.78W
Macomb Township M 2.10 8 42.67N 82.92W
S Roseville M 2.30 6.5 42.51N 82.94W
Roseville M 2.88 10 42.51N 82.94W
...Midland County...
2 W Midland M 2.72 24 43.62N 84.27W
1 S Midland M 2.90 6 43.61N 84.23W
6 N Midland M 2.95 12 43.71N 84.23W
...Monroe County...
Dundee M 1.30 24 41.96N 83.66W
Monroe M 1.52 10.5 41.92N 83.39W
...Oakland County...
2 SSW Clarkston M 1.59 5 42.71N 83.44W
Bloomfield Hills M 1.66 6 42.58N 83.25W
Farmington Hills M 1.70 12 42.49N 83.38W
Wixom M 1.77 6 42.52N 83.54W
4 W Oxford M 1.82 10 42.82N 83.33W
Waterford M 1.85 9 42.66N 83.39W
White Lake M 1.97 18 42.65N 83.50W
2 N Wixom M 2.01 9 42.55N 83.54W
4 NNE Davisburg M 2.05 24 42.81N 83.51W
4 SW Lake Orion M 2.30 8 42.74N 83.29W
...Saginaw County...
Chesaning M 1.80 24 43.18N 84.12W
5 S Auburn M 2.14 24 43.53N 84.08W
Hemlock M 2.63 9.5 43.42N 84.23W
E Saginaw M 2.90 6 43.42N 83.95W
N Frankenmuth M 3.20 7 43.33N 83.74W
...Sanilac County...
Deckerville M 1.50 6 43.53N 82.74W
W Peck M 1.66 10 43.26N 82.82W
Marlette M 1.76 10 43.33N 83.08W
Lexington M 1.81 6 43.27N 82.53W
...Shiawassee County...
Owosso M 2.35 24 43.00N 84.18W
2 NE Corunna M 2.43 24 43.00N 84.09W
Durand M 2.89 24 42.91N 83.99W
Henderson M 3.50 10 43.09N 84.20W
...St. Clair County...
Yale M 1.28 24 43.13N 82.80W
Marysville M 2.45 24 42.91N 82.48W
...Tuscola County...
Cass City M 1.47 24 43.60N 83.18W
Caro M 2.02 24 43.49N 83.40W
Vassar M 2.52 24 43.37N 83.58W
3 ENE Vassar M 2.90 12 43.38N 83.52W
Vassar M 3.30 11 43.37N 83.58W
...Washtenaw County...
Manchester M 2.10 24 42.15N 84.04W
Se Ypsilanti M 2.30 24 42.24N 83.62W
4 SW Saline M 2.35 24 42.13N 83.84W
Ypsilanti M 2.36 6 42.24N 83.62W
Ann Arbor M 2.53 24 42.28N 83.73W
...Wayne County...
1 N Livonia M 1.50 7 42.41N 83.37W
Livonia M 1.60 12 42.40N 83.37W
1 N Grosse Ile M 1.62 24 42.14N 83.15W
Romulus M 2.15 24 42.22N 83.37W
Dearborn M 2.45 24 42.31N 83.21W
Riverview M 2.54 7.5 42.17N 83.19W
Southgate M 2.55 7 42.20N 83.21W
5 WNW Grosse Pointe M 2.78 24 42.41N 83.00W
Wnw Woodhaven M 2.90 24 42.13N 83.24W
4 S Detroit E 2.93 24 42.32N 83.11W
M = Measured
E = Estimated
Environment
The August 16, 2016 heavy rain event originated as the system that brought historic flooding to Louisiana a few days earlier. As such, the system had copious tropical moisture to work with. This is illustrated by a plume of 2"+ precipitable water (Fig. 1) extending from the Gulf of Mexico into the Great Lakes. This moisture was transported ahead of a low-level circulation that tracked northward across the upper Midwest into the Great Lakes region (Fig. 2). The moisture quality was sampled by the 12Z Aug. 16 KDTX RAOB (Fig. 3), which included a precipitable water value of 2.24", 850 mb and 700 mb dewpoints of 16.4 and 8.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, and a wet-bulb zero height of 14.9 kft. All of these parameters were at or above the daily maximum moving average per the SPC climatology (Figs. 4-7). Heavy rainfall occurred as this moisture converged on the nose of a 30-45 kt low level jet, and also within the deformation region northwest of the low-level cyclone (Figs. 8-9) that tracked from roughly the southern tip of Lake Michigan into the Thumb of Michigan. The system moved fairly quickly, which mitigated any major flooding threat.
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| Figure 1: 1-h RAP forecast of precipitable water (in) valid 0800Z (4:00 am) 16 Aug 2016 | Figure 2: 1-h RAP forecast of 850 mb heights (solid), theta-e (dashed), and moisture transport (fill and vector) valid 0500Z (1:00 am) 16 Aug 2016 | Figure 3: 12Z (8:00 am) 16 Aug 2016 KDTX RAOB |
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| Figure 4: Precipitable water climatology derived from KDTX RAOBs plotted according to the convention in http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/soundingclimo/. Top smooth line is the 91-day running average of the daily maximum value. Dot denotes value of the 12Z 16 Aug 2016 value | Figure 5: As in Fig. 4 but for 850 mb dewpoint | Figure 6: As in Fig. 4 but for 700 mb dewpoint |
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| Figure 7: As in Fig. 4 but for wet-bulb zero height | Figure 8: WPC surface analysis and radar composite valid 0600Z (2:00 am) 16 Aug 2016 | Figure 9: WPC surface analysis and surface observations valid 0600Z (2:00 am) 16 Aug 2016 |
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