High Wind Event March 8, 2017

Overview

A non thunderstorm event took place over the state on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, as high winds brought wind gusts in excess of 60 mph! The high winds took out power lines and trees, along with numerous reports of structural damage to buildings. There were also reports of brush fires and tractor-trailers flipped over around the area. Due to the extensive damage, many areas were without power for a few days. Approximately 700,000 DTE customers and approximately 260,000 plus Consumers Energy customers were affected. Keep in mind that one of the criteria for a severe thunderstorm warning is winds greater than or equal to 58 mph. The highest wind gust reported across Southeast Michigan was 68 mph at both Saginaw and Detroit Metro Airport. A High Wind Warning was in effect during this time across all of Southeast Michigan.

Photos & Video
Storm Reports
Environment

Photos & Video:

Damage photos from the high wind event on March 8th:


Northville, MI (Courtesy of Ryan Jake Jakubowski)	Northville, MI (Courtesy of Ryan Jake Jakubowski)	Lake Orion, MI (Courtesy of Ben Redmon)	Grosse Pointe Woods, MI (Courtesy of Michael Meredith)


Grosse Ile, MI (Courtesy of Ryan Andrew Huber)	Michigan (Courtesy of Andrew Huber)	Frenchtown Township, Michigan (Courtesy of Matthew Evans)


Monroe, Michigan (Courtesy of Matthew Evans)	Raisinville Township, Michigan (Courtesy of Matthew Evans)

Storm Reports

Image above courtesy of IEM and displays the local storm reports consisting of non thunderstorm wind damage and gusts across lower Michigan on March 8th.

Environment

The high wind event was a result of a strong low pressure system that was situated over the Hudson Bay bringing a cold front across the area. The colder air being brought in combined with sunshine allowed for surface heating to occur Clear skies allowed for the sun to heat the surface which served to deepen the mixed layer. This resulted in mixing heights reaching as high as 750mb allowing stronger winds aloft to mix down to the surface. This diurnal mixing of winds was supported by a tight pressure gradient between the low over the Hudson Bay and high pressure building northward into the Tennessee Valley.


Figure 1: Warnings in effect on March 8th	Figure 2: CONUS Surface analysis at 15Z (10AM LST)


Figure 3: Surface analysis at 18Z	Figure 4: Surface analysis at 21Z

Figure 5: DTX sounding data at 12Z

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