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Supercell Thunderstorms Over Lake Michigan! - May 20-21, 2014, South Haven, MI

3,562 views · Published 24 May 2014 · 25:04 · Indexed 4 October 2026

Channel: marshallbs · 2014 · Film & Animation

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Big nighttime hailers over southern Lake Michigan!

A series of elevated supercells crossed the southern part of Lake Michigan and moved onshore between Saugatuck and South Haven between the hours of 10:00 PM and 1:00 AM, on May 20-21.  There where three in total.  All of them took on a very pronounced V shape at times while out over the lake, indicative of very strong updraft.  Both GRR and ORD radars estimated hail at least the size of baseballs out over the lake.  Each one quickly weakened when it moved inland.

I drove around in South Haven in the pouring rain and hail for 10 minutes looking for a view.  I finally found a public parking spot with a view out onto the lake just as the first cell cleared me and fell apart.  The cell labelled "cell #1" in the video is actually the second supercell.  

The cell I labelled "cell #2" in the video was actually the third supercell in the series.  This one actually had some nice visible features.  It had a nice rain-free base and visible separation between the updraft and the precipitation core.  I would classify this cell as low precip.  It also had a short tail cloud. This cell produced several bright barrages of CG activity beneath the rain-free base.  Lots of powerful water strikes with multiple return strokes.  Very impressive to see out on the open water, even from a distance of 5-6 miles.

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