Severe Weather and High Winds November 17-18, 2013

November 17-18, 2013

Severe Weather & High Wind Events

Overview

A powerful low pressure system strengthened and tracked northeast from the western Great Lakes towards James Bay during the afternoon of November 17th through the overnight hours.  This intense system brought severe weather to many parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.  Above normal temperatures and strong winds in both the upper and lower levels of the atmosphere help in creating just the right environment for severe storms and tornadoes.  Southerly winds out ahead of the cold front allowed temperatures to soar into the lower to middle 60s during the afternoon hours across southeast Michigan. A line of thunderstorms developed with the cold front that swept through the area during the evening hours. Several of these storms produced severe wind gusts and wind damage as they moved through the area.  Behind the cold front, gradient winds gusted to 50 to 60 mph during the overnight hours, producing additional damage across southeast Michigan.  Below is a map of the severe weather warnings and reports collected during the evening hours, along with a radar loop from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm EST.  Additional resources are also available from various National Weather Service offices that were affected with this strong storm system.

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  Radar

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Local Storm Reports

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
903 PM EST SUN NOV 17 2013

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0430 PM     TSTM WND DMG     MIDLAND                 43.62N 84.23W
11/17/2013                   MIDLAND            MI   911 CALL CENTER

            DISPATCH REPORTS MULTIPLE TREES DOWN THROUGHOUT MIDLAND
            COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR

0455 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 NNE PERRY             42.84N 84.22W
11/17/2013  E65.00 MPH       SHIAWASSEE         MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SPOTTER ALSO ESTIMATED PENNY-SIZE HAIL

0459 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 ENE PERRY             42.85N 84.17W
11/17/2013                   SHIAWASSEE         MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            NUMEROUS DOWNED TREES TO 18-INCH DIAMETER AT LANSING RD
            AND CHURCH

0505 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 W SAGINAW             43.42N 83.97W
11/17/2013  E65.00 MPH       SAGINAW            MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            POWER POLE DOWN ON WEST SIDE OF SAGINAW

0512 PM     TSTM WND DMG     SSW FOWLERVILLE         42.66N 84.07W
11/17/2013                   LIVINGSTON         MI   911 CALL CENTER

            MULTIPLE TREES DOWN

0520 PM     TSTM WND DMG     TECUMSEH                42.01N 83.94W
11/17/2013                   LENAWEE            MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            4 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0521 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 NW FLINT              43.06N 83.75W
11/17/2013                   GENESEE            MI   AMATEUR RADIO  

            FRONT AND BACK WALLS BLOWN DOWN ALONG WITH SEVERAL DOWNED
            TREES.

0525 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 S WHITMORE LAKE       42.40N 83.75W
11/17/2013                   WASHTENAW          MI   AMATEUR RADIO  

            REPORT OF 6 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN ALONG WITH MULTIPLE
            POWER OUTAGES.

0530 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 NE YPSILANTI          42.28N 83.59W
11/17/2013                   WASHTENAW          MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            4 TO 5 INCH DOWNED TREES

0538 PM     TSTM WND GST     5 SSW CANTON            42.24N 83.52W
11/17/2013  M70.00 MPH       WAYNE              MI   ASOS           

            MEASURED AT WILLOW RUN AIRPORT

0542 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 NNE COLUMBIAVILLE     43.22N 83.37W
11/17/2013                   LAPEER             MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TREE FELL ON HOUSE

0544 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 NNW FLUSHING          43.10N 83.87W
11/17/2013                   GENESEE            MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            A TREE OF 30 FEET HIGH AND 5 FEET IN DIAMETER WAS DOWNED

0545 PM     TSTM WND GST     IDA                     41.91N 83.57W
11/17/2013  M64.00 MPH       MONROE             MI   PUBLIC         

            REPORT RELAYED THROUGH FACEBOOK

0550 PM     TSTM WND DMG     LA SALLE                41.87N 83.45W
11/17/2013                   MONROE             MI   911 CALL CENTER

            WIRES DOWN IN THE LA SALLE AND ERIE VICINITIES. TIME
            ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0551 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 ENE ROMULUS           42.25N 83.29W
11/17/2013                   WAYNE              MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            10 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN

0622 PM     TSTM WND GST     3 NE HIGHLAND           42.67N 83.58W
11/17/2013  E60.00 MPH       OAKLAND            MI   NWS EMPLOYEE   

0800 PM     HEAVY RAIN       3 NNW MILAN             42.13N 83.71W
11/17/2013  M1.27 INCH       WASHTENAW          MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            24 HOUR RAINFALL TOTAL

Note:  Generally, winds that occurred before 7 pm were associated

with the line of thunderstorms, and those that occurred after 7 pm

were gradient winds in the wake of the cold front.

More local storm report details can be found here or by clicking on the above image.

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SPC Products  (More details can be found by clicking on the images)

Storm Prediction Center (SPC) products include watches that were issued and mesoscale discussions (MCDs).

 
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Additional Resources

Other states were also affected by the severe weather, inlcuding several tornadoes, that occurred

on this day.  Below are links to other summaries done by various NWS offices.

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