Supercells in Michigan???

[mcwell]

I am a total novice when it comes to weather, but it seems in Michigan (near the Detroit area) that we get two kinds of storms in the summer...

First is the typical line of storms (cold front, derecho?) that blow through with normally heavy winds and decent lightning.

The second being the "pop-up" storms associated with daytime heating.

Do any of these qualify as supercells? If not, how often do we get supercells and what makes a storm a supercell?

Thanks!

 

[Jeff Duda]

Generally, "pop-up" storms and those associated with a line (especially if it's cold front triggered or a derecho) tend not to be supercells. It is possible that cells can merge into a line and the line contain embedded supercells, however. To be a supercell, a storm needs to have a persistent, deep-layer, rotating updraft - i.e., a mesocyclone.

 

[Wes Carter]

Supercells can occur in Michigan and have occurred there many times in the past. However, squall line and multi-cell storms are more frequent there.

Wikipedia sometimes has questionable content, however their supercell article is excellent. Here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercell

 

[Adam Lucio]

The "pop up" storms [often referred to as popcorn storms] are common in the summer, on very humid days with strong heating and lazy winds. They go up, dump a monsoon of rain and because there is no wind support the updraft basically gets killed by the rain, thus the storms "pop up" and quickly die...sometimes they can go sub severe for a couple minutes, but generally do nothing more than dump copious amounts of rain.

 

[Bob Hartig]

Supercells are relatively rare in Michigan, but we do get them. As you've noted, our state is much more prone to linear events and popcorn cells. When we do get supercells, they tend to be embedded in a squall line. Moreover, when we get backing surface winds, the flow above is often unidirectional rather than a nice, graceful veering with height, and the result is brief, catch-as-can spinups.

Every once in a while, though, everything sets up beautifully and we get discrete supercells that are as vicious as anything you'd find out on the Plains.

If you haven't yet figured it out from following the discussions, keep your eye on the warm front. It tends to maximize helicity, and for lack of a dryline in the Great Lakes, it's often the boundary of choice for Michigan chasers.

 

[Chris Vagasky]

In very rare instances, Michigan can even get a line of supercells.

 

[Bob Hartig]

It would be nice to get a little of that around here this summer!

 

[Chris Vagasky]

You, me, and maybe a few others are the only ones who believe that.

 

[Steve Rynbrandt]

Chris,

I remember that day well as an F3 tornado ripped through Thetford Township in northern Genesee county, right where I live! I remember dispatching fire calls and wondering if my home was still there, luckily it was and had little damage. Others unfortunately were not as lucky.

To the best of my recollection, one woman was killed in her car when she was crushed by a tree.


Steve Rynbrandt