Growing up in the Bay City area in the 1950’s and 1960’s we always heard a lot about the Flint tornado every June. And while now here in West Michigan we many times take Tornado warmings lightly back when I was a kid that was not the case in the Flint area.
June 8th 1953 was a moderate warm and humid day the high in Flint that day was 82° and the DP was 72° The high here in Grand Rapids that day was 85° and there was a reported 0.28” of rain
At about 8:30 pm, on Monday evening, June 8, 1953, a tornado touched down near the intersection of W. Coldwater and North Linden roads, just north of Flint. Before the storm left Genesee County, 116 people died in the Beecher district. A one half mile wide track of destruction was left.
Most people living in the area were at home with the children in bed. By the time people heard the storm’s roar their houses were being torn apart.
The slow moving tornado wrecked 340 houses, severely damaged many others and injured 844 persons. The major damage was concentrated between Clio Road & N. Dort Hwy. This area contained mostly small homes with some businesses and a high school.
The Flint tornado was one of ten that hit southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio that afternoon and evening. The others caused a total of 26 deaths and 449 injuries with damage stretching from Alpena, Mich., on the western shore of Lake Huron, to Cleveland, Ohio. Severe storms developed over southeast Lower Michigan in the afternoon, when a moisture-laden warm front moving from the Ohio Valley collided with a strong cold front moving east across Wisconsin.
At its greatest intensity, the tornado path was more than a half-mile wide, obliterating all homes for about a mile on both sides of Coldwater Road in Beecher. Of the 116 deaths, 114 occurred in this four-mile stretch of the damage path. As in Waco, the Weather Bureau issued severe weather bulletins highlighting the threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Here are some facts from the National Weather Service on the Flint Tornado
Date/Time: Monday, June 8, 1953 8:30 pm EST
Fujita scale: F5
F5 definition: Incredible damage. Strong frame houses leveled off foundations and swept away; automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters; trees debarked; incredible phenomena will occur. Wind speeds approximately 261-318 mph. (Only F5 in Southeast Lower Michigan)
Fatalities: 116
113 occurred in a 4-mile stretch of Coldwater Road from 2500W to 1500E (Clio Road to Dort Highway)
Oldest fatality: 80
Youngest fatality: 5 months
Injuries: 844
Hospitals involved:
Genesee County: Hurley; St. Joseph; Flint General; Flint Osteopathic; McLaren General
Saginaw County: St. Mary; St. Luke; Saginaw General
Damage: $19 million in 1953 dollars ($125 million in 2003 dollars)
340 homes were destroyed, 107 suffered “major damage”, and 153 suffered “minor damage”. Another 66 buildings destroyed or damaged to farms, businesses and other buildings.
Path Length: 27 miles
Start: between Linden and Webster Roads, Mt. Morris Township, Genesee County;
End: Five Lakes Road, Deerfield Township, Lapeer County
Path Width: 833 yards
Speed of Tornado: Approximately 35 mph
Highest Temperature and Dewpoint observed at Flint:
Temperature: 82°F at 4:28 PM EST
Dewpoint: 72°F at 9:28 PM EST
Lowest Barometric Pressure observed at Flint: 29.71″ of mercury recorded 8:28 PM EST
First report of rain occurred at the Flint observation (airport) at 10:47 PM EST
First Report of tornado per Flint observation (airport) occurred at 8:33 PM EST
Severe Weather Bulletins highlighting the threat of hazardous weather June 8th 1953: 1
Daily summary: High temperature of 82°F, low temperature of 49°F, 0.07″ of precipitation
Total Michigan tornadoes June 8th 1953: 8
The Flint-Beecher Tornado was just one of eight tornadoes that occurred during that evening across the eastern portion of the Lower Peninsula.
Total tornado fatalities on June 8th, 1953: 126
Total tornado injuries on June 8th, 1953: 925
Here are a couple of vidios of the Flint tornado
[kad_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ8rIhFJ3pM” maxwidth=600 ]
and
[kad_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F_J30XYcjY” maxwidth=600 ]
And some information on other major tornadoes in Michigan
Last F5 in Michigan: 4/3/56 in Southwest Lower Michigan (Ottawa-Kent-Montcalm Counties)
Last Violent Tornado (F4):
In Michigan, 4/2/77 in Southwest Lower (Kalamazoo-Eaton Counties). In Southeast Lower Michigan: 3/20/76 (Oakland County)
Other storms in June of 1953
But the Flint Tornado was not the last of the storms from this system as it had one more very deadly day coming yet!
June 9th Worcester, Massachusetts.
At 5:08 P.M., the tornado entered Worcester and grew to a width of 1 mi. Damage was phenomenal in Worcester (second-largest city in Massachusetts). Just like if Flint the day before houses simply vanished, with the debris granulated and scattered well away from the foundations. Entire rows of homes were swept away in some areas. The Worcester tornado was a milestone in many regards. Because of its enormous size and unusual geographic location. A reported 94 people were killed and over 1,000 people were injured and 4,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged.
While there are many who like to see big time storms we all should remember that if you are a part of the SkyWarn Program our goal is to try and save lives from any future events.
SlimJim
June…60 degrees?…Michigan, obviously.
71° in GR today
Nice write up Slim! Hard to imagine that kind of devastation here in Michigan.
Praying for no rain after 4 this afternoon. We are having a outdoor party for our oldest daughters wedding at our house. Going to be hard to cram 100 people plus into our garage if it rains!