Michigan Tornadoes

It has been a great fun run. I have been writing posts in this weather blog for a long time. 1^st in Bill’s blog that ran for many years and then here in Michael’s blog for several more years. But change is the name of the game. And looking ahead we will still be doing post in a new and somewhat different form. You can sign up in Substack it is free to sign up https://substack.com/@slimjim2025/posts for me and https://substack.com/@michaelv55 for MV.

Michigan averaged about 15 confirmed tornados a year between 1950 and early 2024, an analysis of National Weather Service data shows. According to the National Weather Service. Nearly 1,000 tornadoes touched down in the state from 1950-2012, making the state 20th in nation in the number of Tornadoes, In Michigan if you were to draw a line along M-46 across the state, the areas south of that line would be Michigan’s tornado ally. While most of the storms have occurred south of M-46 it should be noted that it appears over that time every county in the state has reported tornadoes, here is a map with the number in each county from 1950 to 2012 of course there are now more than that now.

While most Michigan tornadoes are on the weaker side with mostly trees down and some structural damage, but that has not always been the case. Here is a list of the top deadliest of the Michigan storms
1. June 8th, 1953, Flint area 8:30 PM 116 dead 844 injured
2. May 25th, 1896, 9PM 47 dead 100 injured in Oakland county
3. April 11th, 1965, 7 PM 44 dead 612 injured The death toll: Branch County (19), Hillsdale County (11), Lenawee County (14)
4. April 3rd, 1956, 6:30 PH 18 dead 340 injured Hudsonville, Standale and Grand Rapids.
5. May 8th, 1964, 5PM 11 dead 224 injured. Anchor Bay area, north of Mt. Clemens.
6. April 11th, 1965, 6:50PM. 5 dead 142 injured Thirty two homes were destroyed and 192 damaged in the Comstock Park and Alpine area.
7. May 13th, 1980, 3pm 5 dead 40 injured in the center of Kalamazoo
8. June 5th, 1905, 3:30 PM 5 dead 40 injured Shabbona in Sanilac County.
9. June 8th 6:30 PM 4 dead 18 injured Telegraph road Monroe County.
10. June 8th 7:40 PM 4 dead 13 injured Big Island Lake, Iosco County
By far the worst day for tornadoes here in Michigan was June 8th 1953 lets all hope we do not see a day like that here again!
Here is a list of reported tornadoes here in west Michigan note some of the storms will be on both list.
1912: July 13th
A tornado strikes downtown Grand Rapids at 4:10 AM. Several buildings are damaged and nine people are injured.
1975: May 20th
A tornado injured one person as it destroyed two mobile homes at Byron Center in Kent County.
1923 April 21
: A tornado struck three miles west of Scottville in Mason County. It destroyed an unoccupied home and carried pieces of it over a mile.
1967: A tornado outbreak hits from Missouri to Michigan, killing 58 people. The worst of the damage was in northern Illinois, where dozens of people were killed in Belvidere and Oak Lawn. At least seven tornadoes hit Michigan, injuring more than 50 people and destroying dozens of homes. A tornado moved across the southern outskirts of Grand Rapids, doing heavy damage. Thirty-two people were injured and a total of 65 buildings were destroyed and another 60 heavily damaged. Another tornado injured eight people and killed 34 sheep as it moved from Westphalia to the south edge of Fowler in Clinton County.
1961: A tornado hit two miles north of Marne. One person was injured and three buildings were heavily damage September 22
1965: September 4
A tornado struck east of Grand Haven, destroying a barn, silo and factory. Debris was carried over two miles.
1985: July 15
A tornado touched down in the northeast section of Lansing and damaged 18 buildings as it moved to three miles north of Webberville in Ingham County
1965: April 11
The second worst tornado outbreak in United States history struck from Iowa to Ohio, killing 256 people. In Michigan, the worst damage is near the Indiana state line as two violent tornadoes moved on parallel tracks about a half hour apart, killing 44 people and injuring hundreds. A tornado struck northwest of Grand Rapids, killing five people in Comstock Park. One person was killed by a tornado that moved from near Dewitt in Clinton County to Bennington in Shiawassee County.
2001: Severe thunderstorms produced large hail, flash flooding, and two weak tornadoes. The tornadoes briefly moved through rural areas near Coopersville in Ottawa County and Cloverville in Muskegon County.
April 3

1956: April 3
Eighteen people are killed and over 300 injured as four powerful tornadoes strike western Lower Michigan. Hudsonville and the northwest suburbs of Grand Rapids are the hardest hit areas with 17 fatalities as homes and businesses were completely swept away by an F5 tornado. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grr/science/19560403/
1974: The worst tornado outbreak in United States history strikes from Illinois to Alabama, with 148 tornadoes killing over 300 people. In Michigan, a tornado kills two people as it tracks across Hillsdale and Jackson Counties.

The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 78/50 there was no rainfall the highest wind gust was 22 MPH out of the NE. For today the average H/L is 62/41 the record high of 88 was in 1915 the coldest high of 39 was in 1976 the record low of 24 was in 1907 the warmest low of 63 was in 1990 the most rainfall of 1.48” was in 1995 the most snowfall is a trace in several years the last time was in 2022.