  Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3131 Registered: 02-2005 |
Hamtramck, parts of Detroit, and Grosse Pointe Park, City, and Farms got rocked by a "tornado" or, more accurately, 115 mph straight line wind/microburst on this day in 1997, between 6-6:30 PM. A general overview: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/?n =july2 (when they say that 5 were killed in GP Park they mean 5 were killed at the GP Farms Park) The radar loop of how the storms unfolded: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images /dtx/events/RadarLoop.gif The damage report for Wayne/Macomb County: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images /dtx/events/pnsdtx_9.txt Any memories? I remember the dark green sky just before the storm hit, the long period of strong wind, rain, and thunder, and watching all of our old elm trees bend over and often fall while sneaking a peak from our basement stairs. The next day all I remember is trees and debris everywhere, massive trees on top of some of the mansions of GP Farms, and tales of an attempted water rescue near the GP Farms Park were the 5 people were killed by means of a pavillion being thrown into the lake. | ||
Detroit_girl Member Username: Detroit_girl Post Number: 103 Registered: 10-2003 |
I was living in Hamtramck when that tornado hit and working in Farmington. When it was time to leave work, I foolishly decided to just brave it and drive home. The sheer force of the wind was terrifying. There were smashed cars covered with debris all along Joseph Campau, and a lot of other damage. People also started looting along Jos Campau and ATF(?)agents were sent and were patrolling the street with big guns. Weird. It doesn't seem like its been 10 years already. Yikes. | ||
Dannaroo Member Username: Dannaroo Post Number: 86 Registered: 05-2006 |
I was waiting in line that afternoon with a friend for tickets to a Rage Against the Machine and Wu Tang Clan concert and when we went to go get back into the car, it wasn't raining were we were, but the wind and the sudden change in pressure nearly ripped the door off. I drove home from Utica to near Richmond and don't recall much rain but remember watching the news before dinner and seeing all the destruction and hearing about the people at the gazebo in GP. | ||
Mind_field Member Username: Mind_field Post Number: 731 Registered: 10-2003 |
I MISSED it! I was in the Upper Peninsula but heard about it on the radio. I'm a nut about severe storms and it figures when I'm out of town the worst of them hit! | ||
Gingellgirl Member Username: Gingellgirl Post Number: 24 Registered: 04-2007 |
Driving home from work, eastbound on I-696. Got between Orchard Lake Road and the Mixing Bowl (where there is no exit) and saw the blackest clouds in the rearview mirror. Cars were driving on the shoulders to get off the freeway ASAP. One of my customers, Caniff Electric in Hamtramck, was destroyed. I also went to the grand re-opening party one year later. | ||
Karl_jr Member Username: Karl_jr Post Number: 19 Registered: 06-2007 |
During the storm I was tending to my Moms dogs in Detroit as she was in Beaumont hospital in Royal Oak, the wind was so hard it was shredding green leaves through the window screens. I went to Beaumont to see her afterwards, the freeways where a mess so I drove straight out Woodward. As I passed the Boston Edison area the damage that was done was horrible, people were wondering around Highland park dazed. At the time they would not call it a tornado, but the destruction I seen in Highland Park and Hamtramck was terrible. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4722 Registered: 08-2004 |
I remember driving along Chandler Park Drive along the east side and seeing all the tops of peoples chimneys busted off at the top and lying on peoples roofs. I also remember in the aftermath about driving thru Grosse Pointe and Grosse Pointe Farms and seeing street after street of tree limbs lying at the curb waiting for trash pickup. It was surrealistic. While not a lot of trees were blown over in that area, many did loose some enormous branches. And then I remember driving along Lakeshore between Kirby and Moross, seeing trees still standing but shorn of much of their branches. Interstingly enough many of these trees survived and over the years have regrown new limbs and branches. | ||
Nativegirl Member Username: Nativegirl Post Number: 82 Registered: 01-2004 |
Foolish me was attending UofM Dearborn and the school let us out instead of sending us to the fallout shelter. I got on Southfield Fwy headed north to go home. The sky got green and everything was calm and still. Scared the bejesus out of me! Next thing I know the sky got so dark that I was in near panic mode. I was under the Joy Road bridge when the rain just gushed down like mad. Next to me was a gasoline tanker that appeared to be rocking from side to side. My little Chevy Cavalier squeaked through the rising rain water and thankfully I did not get stuck in flood water like the others did. I made it home to Livernois and Curtis and trees were everywhere. No one was calling it a tornado but boy did it look like it. The funniest thing happened after I made it home: I lived in a duplex and silly me parked out front not in the drive. Guess what? Yep, you got it, my car got smashed by a neighboring tree that was weak from the storm. After I had survived the drive home and parked did my car get damaged (the front hood). It took me a full month to get my car out of the shop! | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3133 Registered: 02-2005 |
I wonder if I have any snapshots at home...if I do I'll scan them in. | ||
Ja1mz Member Username: Ja1mz Post Number: 55 Registered: 02-2007 |
We lived in Eastpointe at the time, I remember the blackest clouds I had ever seen. When the sirens went off we went to the basement. I remember coming upstairs briefly and seeing all the trees bending over in the wind...wwe back down to ride it out.... | ||
Ron Member Username: Ron Post Number: 325 Registered: 03-2006 |
I remember sitting on my porch with a buddy of mine (at 7 Mile and Southfield). When the winds started to blow, I asked him to help me get the chairs, table and other items off the porch into the house. This fool grabbed a stack of newspapers that we had been leafing through and ran into my house, leaving me to get the table and chairs!?! My mother and sister were out just prior to the t-storm hitting, and were attempting to get gas as they were about to run out. It was windy, but the storm had not hit yet. Just as they were getting back into the car, lighting struck the sign to the gas station. In the aftermath, I remember driving down the street just south of Focus Hope (parallel to Oakman, I believe). There were houses that had the entire front torn off, with beds and dressers still in place! They looked like doll houses. I cannot imagine the horror those residents must have gone through. Very scary stuff. BTW, does anyone remember if this was the year the snow storm hit around the auto show time? If so, that was a horrible year. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1286 Registered: 04-2006 |
Like Nativegirl, I was stuck in a freeway too. We were on our way back from the Eastside where we had met with a homeowner for a paint the town house my agency had sponsored. We had just told her about all the stuff we were going to have done to her house that day. She was very excited. We heard a siren go off, but did not really think too much about it. We got back on I-94 near Cadillac and headed to Wayne State where my co-worker lived and I had parked a car. All of a sudden the car started to shake and you could see stuff like garbage cans being blown across the freeway! We exited the road and found the surface streets to be covered and tried to park the car and wait it out, but everywhere we tried to park seemed to be very close to overhead wires! Finally I made it back to Warrendale and checked on my grandparents, great-aunts, and great uncles to ensure they were all okay. I took their tree limbs and drug them to the curb, which was standard practice in those days, and then home to de-stress. | ||
Mpow Member Username: Mpow Post Number: 261 Registered: 11-2003 |
I was at Detroit Public Library and we all went down to the basement theater with books in hand. | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 2107 Registered: 02-2004 |
I was buying shoes at Shoe Carnival (sadly, gone) in Madison Heights. I glanced out the window and saw a stray shopping cart zipping across the parking lot at about 150 MPH. | ||
Adamjab19 Member Username: Adamjab19 Post Number: 790 Registered: 11-2003 |
I did a DVD project on this storm in college and specifically how it hit Hamtramck. Stupid me didn't make enough copies and I gave the rest away. In fact I posted a thread on here (may still be around) asking for help and Hamtramck_Steve was the star of my movie. I sent him a copy....but I don't see him on here anymore. If you are out there Steve please email me adamcarl.jablonowski at gmail . com I would like to see if you still have that DVD. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 741 Registered: 01-2007 |
We were moving from Detroit on this very day 10 years ago. One of the few things we had in our new Ferndale home was a little 5" black and white television. The afternoon sure grew bleak, so we called off moving the rest of our stuff. I recall watching the new 'neighborhood weather' system that showed a very detailed weather pattern, right down to the street level. I was horrified as I saw the storm move right into the city of Grosse Point Farms, the city I have been employed by since 1979. The night was a long one, and the next day we finished moving. I took vacation time that week for the move, and when we finished, I went by the DPW to drop off some trash and some other things we had borrowed. My boss looked very grim. Up to that point I had not heard of, or seen any of the damage in the city. He told me that 5 people had been killed at Pier Park. I was in stunned disbelief, and took a pickup truck to the park. What I saw shocked me to the core: utter devastation all around. The decades old elms and other trees were flattened, and the various structures were unrecognizable. I was informed by the police of the chilling events of the day before. The wind had collapsed a building that some picnickers took refuge under, and they were swept into the lake. A rescue effort was mounted by the parks Lifeguards and other personal, but the results sadly, were only bodies. The experience there left us in sorrow. After the shock of it all, I got back to the job as we had a lot of work to do. That summer was filled with long hours as the city pulled itself up, and we began to rebuild that park. But it was not built as before, but much, much better, with a memorial to the ones who died. I will never forget that time of my life, and I am proud to say that I had a small part in the healing. Bullet | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3135 Registered: 02-2005 |
That's how I remember it, Bullet. Nothing really bad happens in GP, and rarely in southern Michigan is our weather that extreme. This shook everyone for awhile. And, at the time, the amount of mess that was made, in addition to the long power outage and fears of looting in/around Detroit, made things quite uncertain. I was a bit scared as a pre-teen at that point, but I remember vividly going down to Tiger Stadium for a game the night that our power did come back on...a much better day. Bullet, perhaps the weather was a sign pertaining to your moving out of the D... Ron, I think the crippling snowstorm(s) that came in early January were actually in 1999. Not completely sure (plus 97 or 98 could have also had bad January weather that I'm not recalling). | ||
Clark1mt Member Username: Clark1mt Post Number: 84 Registered: 06-2005 |
I was 13, and the biggest thing I remember about the day was going south on Telegraph with my dad, and looking out the back window of the car just past 696, and seeing just how black the sky was. It was literally like night, around 5-5:30 PM. Later, we were on I-96 west, hearing about a tornado warning for Wayne county, specifically mentioning Livonia (approximately where we were). Of course we didn't stop. That day was the only time in my life the weather has ever scared me, that I can remember. Thinking back now, it was an experience that pushed me firmly into wanting a career in meteorology (which right now is still in the making). | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4723 Registered: 08-2004 |
The winter of 1998-99 was one of the worst on record. Record cold as well as lots of snow and drifting. We just got hit with one snow storm after another. That terrible summer storm 10 years ago begs the question. Could a tornado actually come thru the densly populated areas of metro Detroit, or does the heat from the builtup infrastructure diffuse or dissipate that kind of severe weather? I remember many years back there was a tornado that went thru West Bloomfield, but wasn't that before urban sprawl got too far outbound? Would that severe storm 10 years ago actually have been a tornado had it happened in a "non-urban hot spot" area? Just wondering.... | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1538 Registered: 11-2003 |
Gistok- While things such as lakes, mountains, urban areas, etc will have some sort of weather effect, none of them has the ability to "prevent" a tornado from going through a particular area. Any place can be hit by a tornado at any time, though location and geography, etc do affect the probability somewhat. A good example is the City of Chicago. Its proximity to Lake Michigan oftentimes results in storms weakening as they near the cooler air by the lake. Not just tornado-wise but just thunderstorm-wise. If you look at areas around Chicago just, say 30-60 miles away (particularly the SW side) the number of tornado reports and the probability of tornadoes jumps significantly. This is because the lake does not have as much an effect there as it does in Chicago. Plainfield, IL had a F5 several years back. There was also a big tornado in 1967 that went through SW Chicago. So, yeah, it does have an effect, but it is certainly not enough to stop a tornado from hitting a city like Detroit. I was not around MI in 1997, and rarely paid much attention to the goings on there (in HS in Idaho at the time). However, I had relatives living in Grosse Pointe Park and they said the storms were just terrible. Not much damage beyond trees but they did say a Dodge Neon was "hot-dog-bunned" by a falling tree branch. The scary part was they had an aupair from Germany at the time who was apparently so scared she ran UPSTAIRS to hide under the bed. Just glad nothing happened.... Oh, and I swear most people to this day call it the "Grosse Pointe Tornado". I've told several people who were there that GP was confirmed as having straight line damage only, but I've been amazed at how many people swear it was indeed a tornado. Even today, I'll tell people that and they'll deny it was anything but. You'll mention the people in the lake and they say "there were 5 people who died in GP when a tornado hit their picnic". Tragic no matter what, but it was not a tornado. I'm a weather dork. Big time. One of my biggest treats is when I get the chance to travel to the midwest and get a big severe thunderstorm. I'd love to storm chase someday. With that said (and I haven't been in bad storms for well over a decade as Idaho and CA just don't get them), I remember being awfully scared sometimes as a young kid in southern Indiana, where we did get some pretty nasty weather. But I never remember green skies or blackness during the daytime. I imagine even as a grown up who understands how most weather works, tracks, where it will hit, etc that I'd still be pretty F'n scared too! Crazy 1997 was already 10 years ago. I don't feel like it could possibly be that long already. | ||
Awfavre Member Username: Awfavre Post Number: 130 Registered: 08-2005 |
I was clerking at Solidarity House on Jefferson & had been waiting for a package to deliver the next day before work. I got the call around 5:30 the package wouldn’t be complete, so I left. I saw the dark skies, but didn’t think much at that moment. Stopped at the Mickey D’s drive-thru on Mack & 75 for a Big Mac, then heard the sirens go off as I left the parking lot. When I saw how black & green (always a harbinger of tornadoes, it seems) the skies were, I high-tailed it back down Lafayette to Solidarity House (the only place I could think of to take shelter at that moment – they have a very sturdy basement) as fast as I could go: about 55-65 mph all the way down. I kept looking in my rear view mirror for a tornado, & thankfully, never saw one. I remember driving by MLK Jr. Sr. High School & seeing people still walking around the track. I wondered how long they’d be there. I was yelling in the car at them to run! You could still hear the sirens. I then screeched into the lot at Solidarity House & ran into the building as fast as I could go, taking my Big Mac with me. The skies immediately turned pea green & the small trees around the edges of the lot bent over almost parallel to the asphalt. At one point, the rain poured so hard you couldn’t see my car, which was only 50 feet from the windows. I just sat there in the big, safe lobby, eating my burger, completely dumb-founded. Within only a few moments, it was over, & I went home in shock. I was staying with friends in Holly at the time, & when I got off at the East Holly Road exit, I saw where a tornado had hit the gas station off the exit & the general vicinity. I found later the tornado went through the area right about the moment I normally would have gotten off the exit, had I not had to wait for my unfinished package. Thank God for procrastinating lawyers! | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 1235 Registered: 10-2006 |
Interestingly enough, I was following behind the storms on a return trip to Detroit from NW Michigan. We were behind the storms quite a bit as it was clear and sunny, but off in the distance ahead you could see the huge clouds billowing high (40,000 feet plus?) and in a massive line. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 1597 Registered: 01-2005 |
Great stories, everyone. I'm enjoying reading of your experiences greatly (uh...I was in Las Vegas that day, as I am now). | ||
Young_detroiter Member Username: Young_detroiter Post Number: 205 Registered: 08-2004 |
Detroitplanner, Mackinaw and Gistok are absolutely correct about the 1998/1999 winter storm season. The Great Blizzard of 1999 is the storm that you recall that shut down the city for at least a week. High winds accompanied more than two feet of snow before the series of squalls ended. On July 7, 1997, I was only 10 years old, but nonetheless, an extreme weather enthusiast. From my home at the Detroit-side of 8 Mile and Southfield Rd/Frwy, I witnessed the incredible unfolding of the most powerful storm I had ever seen. I had been watching The Weather Channel all day, and listening to my weather radio blare as watches were upgraded to warnings. Also, I had warned my grandparents in Saginaw that they should seek shelter moments before severe storms struck their neighborhood. Afternoon sunshine turned to pitch-black within minutes. My mother would not believe the seriousness of the situation as she chatted on the phone. She brushed it off by saying that Detroit doesn't receive tornadoes. She thought that I was just an anxious kid hyper over a thunderstorm. As hail began pelting the windows and as lights flickered, she was convinced and we headed for the basement. As we passed by the side-door on our way to the basement, I stared out of the window in amazement as an almost constant lightning illuminated the swirling clouds (non-related to a tornado) and straight-line winds blowing large limbs and other debris like little toys. As we waited, the basement began to take on water. It was not storm drainage/sewage water, but instead water began to seep through the windows of the basement. The minor damage in my neighborhood had very little comparison to the damage that relatives experienced in their neighborhoods, or the damage that I saw firsthand in Highland Park. Roofs were ripped from houses, while other roofs were destroyed by large trees that had been completely uprooted, lifting the sidewalk along with them. I have since studied intensely this storm system. This storm and other severe weather events in Michigan have given me the desire to be a broadcast meteorologist to help give better warning in such events. By the way, though the warning technology has improved and in spite of some faulty outdoor sirens, Southeast Michigan had very good warning alert times from the National Weather Service. I doubt that the majority of the population heed the warnings at the time. Unfortunately, warnings never reached a few. Gistok, The urban heat would only feed or give energy to the thunderstorms. Though we here more about the damage of mobile home parks, urban centers and even central business districts are not out of the woods of being hit head on by a tornado. Salt Lake City is probably the most notable example, with footage capturing a tornado dancing over and around skyscrapers several years ago. The only thing that would disrupt a tornado in a downtown is the potential interruption of the airflow caused by the height of the skyscrapers. However, the warmth of the urban city would work to enhance and strengthen a storm. (Message edited by Young_Detroiter on July 02, 2007) | ||
Sticks Member Username: Sticks Post Number: 339 Registered: 08-2005 |
Yeah, forget black clouds. When you see green clouds in Michigan that put the street-lights on at 4 in the afternoon, that's when you know it's about to hit the rotating blades. I remember witnessing my mom have a seizure shortly before the storm. Downriver wasn't hit as bad as other parts of Wayne County but I remember driving to Oakwood Hospital and just seeing TONS of limbs laying in the road, standing water, and a few downed power lines. | ||
Wsu98 Member Username: Wsu98 Post Number: 9 Registered: 03-2007 |
I was in class, at Wayne State at the time of the storm. I remember the sky turning green, the rain coming down, and the small trees along Warren bend in half. The whole time my professor continued to lecture, while we just stared out the window. After class I headed back home to Saint Clair Shores. I started out on 94, but it was flooded, and traffic was at a stand still. I got off at the Gratiot exit, and made my way to Harper. Their were cars under water at just about every intersection. It took me over 3 hours to get home that night. I was working for the City of Grosse Pointe Park that summer. So the next day I headed to work along Jefferson and saw all the destruction in Grosse Pointe. It took me over an hour to get to work, as I tried to find a path that wasn't blocked by trees. Just about every street had a tree blocking it. I spent the next few weeks at work accessing storm damage, and helping the DPW remove fallen trees, and limbs. The city rented a huge tub grinder to turn all those trees to mulch. | ||
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone Post Number: 96 Registered: 03-2007 |
I remember watching plastic tables and chairs flying straight across in the air in front of my townhouse in Fraser. The complex I lived in then lost 113 trees in that storm, along with siding and roofing. It was the first time in my life I actually headed for the basement instead of standing at the window and watching the storm. It was the worst storm I remember in my 57 years. | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 4635 Registered: 10-2003 |
I was at home in SH in the living room watching our backyard get torn up. Our porch chairs ended up about 300 feet down the street. I know that the cemetery at 14 and Hayes got nailed pretty bad. Some tombstones were knocked over. The downed tress were left for months before anyone did anything about it. I don't remember it lasting that long. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3945 Registered: 10-2003 |
Here's my story from right in the center of the path in Highland Park. The tornado seemed as if it was rolling parallel to the ground when it hit us, as opposed to a perpendicular funnel, like some giant maddened steam roller crushing everything with powerful down drafts. My three thirty foot blue spruce trees were splayed in three directions while, of course, the red maple by the curb had hardly a leaf missing. Tornados bring random punishment. | ||
Ro_resident Member Username: Ro_resident Post Number: 257 Registered: 11-2003 |
I lived in Allen Park at the time. My fiancee (now wife) had a doctor's appointment in Grosse Pointe. We spent the morning at the doctor's. Then we did a little sightseeing in the area. We went home in the mid-afternoon. My fiancee went to the drug store to pick up some meds, while I went to work in the yard. After ten minutes or so, my fiancee returned and told me to get in the house as a huge storm was on its way. I was oblivious. Surprisingly, it only rained hard for a short time. We then went to a movie at the dollar theater on Allen Road. It was only later that we heard about all of the destruction. We felt sorry for the family in the park, as we were in the area hours before. The next day, we headed up to English Gardens on Ford Road. It was amazing how many trees and power lines were down just a few miles north. | ||
Susanarosa Member Username: Susanarosa Post Number: 1572 Registered: 11-2003 |
I was wondering... I saw you were the last post on here ro resident and I know Royal Oak received some of the least of the damage in the region. | ||
Soomka1 Member Username: Soomka1 Post Number: 24 Registered: 02-2007 |
I was on I-94 driving from Taylor to GP. I saw the green clouds tumbling end-over-end right along the Rouge River and roll across 94. It started raining so hard that I figured the only thing to do was keep moving and follow the tail lights in front of me. I was in the center lane. When the rain let up a little, I saw that I had followed the car right off of the freeway and on to the service drive. My next door neighbor had a huge Elm tree that had steel cables keeping all of the big limbs together. Miraculously, when I got home that tree was untouched. Here is a picture from the day after of a tree on Grand Marais in GP Park. | ||
Soomka1 Member Username: Soomka1 Post Number: 25 Registered: 02-2007 |
Oops. Here is the picture I mentioned earlier. | ||
Soomka1 Member Username: Soomka1 Post Number: 26 Registered: 02-2007 |
 This was right across Lakeshore from where the people died. You can see this tree was pretty much twisted in half and uprooted at the same time. | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 390 Registered: 11-2005 |
I was a CIT at camp algonquin on burt lake and remember hearing about it and thinking how helpless I was being so far away. 6 years before that on july 5th my aunts house over at 6 and grand river had three huge trees crash into it and it was a mess it wasnt classified as a tornado but the line of trees down said otherwise. | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 3700 Registered: 10-2003 |
I was living and working in Guam, where ironically I had to sit indoors for 24 hours during a Typhoon. I remember calling friends in Detroit and saying "What do you mean there was a tornado? Detroit never gets hit by tornados!" | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1539 Registered: 11-2003 |
Looking at that radar loop, there is one big main-line, then another big "secondary" cell that passes through just after. Was the tornado and damage done in the first line or the second? I'm not a super big weather guy, but is that a bit of a bow echo I see form just before the main line passes through Detroit? Bow Echo is a ) curve where the strongest winds are generally located on the front edge of a storm, yes? Hook echo is usually at the tail end of a storm and where tornadoes generally form? As another sorta Great Lakes weather phenomenon, seiches are another interesting thing. Basically storms push all the water in the great lakes to the east and then the entire lake literally sloshes from shore to shore, sorta like mini tsunamis. Another more West Michigan event was a derecho, which is extremely high straight-line winds. One hit Holland/Grand Haven I wanna say sometime in the 90's (1998). They estimated some of the straight line winds to be well in excess of 100mph. My grandparents live right on the lake michigan shore and their home was hammered. They did not have power for over a week. I believe it hit the entire state but was not nearly as bad once past Grand Rapids or so. Midwest has some amazing weather events. Michigan can be unique because of the role the lakes play in the entire thing. Derecho event: 130mph straight line winds recorded in some areas. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/A btDerechos/casepages/may30-311 998page.htm Local grandrapids blog on the event: http://blogs.woodtv.com/?p=202 8 | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 763 Registered: 11-2003 |
My one lasting memory from that storm was driving down Woodward near Davidson the next day on my way to Harper Hospital for minor surgery and seeing a orange traffic barrel wrapped around the top of a telephone pole. I can't remember anything else about that storm other then the mental image of the traffic barrel. I'm pretty sure if I drove by that area I could even pick out the pole that it was wrapped around. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3141 Registered: 02-2005 |
Jerome, the damage was done during the initial storm. | ||
Citychick Member Username: Citychick Post Number: 25 Registered: 05-2007 |
I was at work in Eastpointe, and we were all watching the news, talking about what path the storm was taking, never realizing that it was going right over my house. It was until my brother called that I realized it had hit my area and worse yet, my Mothers house. It took me 2 hours to convince my boss to let me leave for an hour to take my brother there to check on her. Flew down 8 mile doing 80 - there were no police out, they were all in the hardest hit areas. Got to the Hamtramck border and had to show my ID to get in, then convinced an officer to let me go to my house. Took me 10 minutes to drive thru a maze of destruction over two blocks. Got to my house, and I had left all the windows open - so not too much damage except for black streaks on the walls, shrubbery in the kitchen, etc. Drove thru another maze of destruction toward Moms house near Conant and Holbrook - could only get within a couple of blocks - and dropped my brother off. As I was pulling away, I saw something that resembled a tank. Sped back to work just in time to close up. Got back to the area just before dawn and made it back to Mom's house. She was okay, just scared. She always said tornados won't hit Detroit (or anywhere in the vicinity). She said when the newscaster told them to take cover, she saw the sky turn black and she started to walk toward the basement door. She made it as far as the kitchen sink, then heard the noise and panicked, held onto the sink and prayed. Her neighbor upstairs came bounding down, called out to her, and she finally got the courage to move. They stayed in the basement for nearly 2 hours until they thought it was okay to come back up. | ||
Kimistree Member Username: Kimistree Post Number: 80 Registered: 01-2004 |
My husband was supposed to play the tastefest that day, (he play in a blues band) and we were waiting for them to go on. The manager of the stage told them that should wait because there was a bad storm coming and they didn't want to be caught in. We waited in a building across from the fisher building where the the people working at the Tastefest had water snacks info etc. There was a window wall so we had a clear picture of the Fisher building as the storm approached. I remember the clouds were as black as I had ever seen and I got a pit in my stomach that this was not going to be good. When the store hit, we watched lighting hit the rod on the roof of the Fisher building about 4 times. It was just like a movie! I don't remember how long the storm lasted, but I do remember hail the size of cotton balls hitting the truck as we drove down Woodward, and that it took us 2 hours to get home because 94 was flooded.  This is a picture the day after the storm. I think this is on Nottingham in Grosse Pointe Park. 2 trees fell into this home. Somewhere I have other pics. If I find them I will post them. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3146 Registered: 02-2005 |
Great photo. That's what really astounded me. Those old trees get uprooted and they pull up half a lawn with them because of all their roots. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 747 Registered: 01-2007 |
Jerome81, thank you! I was going to post that people called this a tornado, for lack of a proper term to describe the event: a derecho. The other terms you posted are new to me as well, and I am native Michigan. As mentioned above by Mackinaw, Gistok and Young_detroiter, the winter of 98/99 was one of the worst in terms of snow fall. I think we missed the record by an inch. I also worked that storm, and in one shift put in 36 straight hours of plowing and pushing. I have photos somewhere that I will try to dig up when I find some time tomorrow. Thanks for the stories and photos all! | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 748 Registered: 01-2007 |
P.S. Just to put this storm into perspective: http://www.powells.com/biblio? isbn=0375708278 | ||
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize Post Number: 1337 Registered: 02-2007 |
Jerome, the storm you mentioned in West Michigan did also leave it's mark in Metro Detroit theb next morning (during the morning rush). It was classified as the "great Lakes Derecho". There were Tornado warning for a whole hour as the line stalled over Wayne and Macomb County, also producing Flash Flooding. They have a complete story about it on the NWS site. Anyway, they were no official Tornado reports from this storm, although the NWS did classify the Hamtramack damage as a weak but brief F0 Tornado with winds of 75 MPH. However, they were many reports of Funnel clouds siting everywhere. This was mostly a Straight-Lined Wind Event though (severe win damage is winds of 58 MPH or greater). So, Tomorrow, The SPC has placed area along and south of I-94 in the 30% for Severe WEather and all of SE Michigan under the 15% area, which is all Slight risk. Now, Tomorrow is one day where you don't want to see the sun. You'll also notice a big difference in the moisture content in the afternoon tomorrow. 2 rounds of convection are expected, and if the first round (expected to come through sometime Wednesday Morning) leaves enough Cloud Debris or arrives later than expected, it will limit daytime heating, preventing the atmosphere from boiling and keeping things stable. This was the same case with the Fireworks actually. It's a wait and see situation at this point however. Firework planners should keep an eye on this though. The main threat will be Damaging winds, but a brief tornado or some hailstones are also possible. | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 1194 Registered: 12-2006 |
I was eating dinner at the time, and remember seeing green and racing down the stairs to the basement. After it was over, my house was one of the few that still had power on our street. | ||
Young_detroiter Member Username: Young_detroiter Post Number: 206 Registered: 08-2004 |
Jerome, I am a super big weather guy/nut. I love the varying storms and weather events that one can see in southeast Michigan... even remnants of hurricanes. However, besides my fascination of blizzards, I find the winters too long and harsh. | ||
Karenka Member Username: Karenka Post Number: 13 Registered: 01-2006 |
I was driving home down I-75 when things got bad, but didn't hear about a tornado till I got home, which at the time was the Detroit side of the Detroit/Hamtramck border. Walked around and took a lot of photos. Here are a few. I also lived through the 1967 Chicago-area tornado mentioned earlier. It hit my hometown of Oak Lawn on my 12th birthday, and killed 36 people in our town alone. I watched it out our picture frame window (although it looked like it was just across the street in the alley behind my grandparents' house, the closest it actually came was about 4 blocks away), and walked around that night as bodies were being dug out of demolished buildings. It was a formative event in my life. But that's a story for a different forum...    |
