The National Weather Service has confirmed that two
tornadoes touched down in Mid-Michigan during a line of storms that rolled
through Friday morning. A third tornado has also been reported in the state.
The Mid-Michigan twisters hit in Bad Axe in Huron County and
in Applegate in Sanilac County.
The Bad Axe tornado was rated an EF-0 with estimated peak
winds of 85 mph. A damage survey found that the funnel touched down 1 mile west
of Bad Axe just south of M-53 at Barrie Road. It hit the ground at 6:46 a.m.
and stayed on the ground for only .6 miles, lifting one minute later near M-53
and Western Avenue, .4 miles west of Bad Axe. There were no injuries as a
result of the storm.
The Applegate tornado was rated an EF-1 with estimated peak
winds at 90 mph. Experts found the funnel touched down at 7:13 a.m., 6.5 miles
west-southwest of Applegate, .5 miles east of the intersection of Marlette and
Loeding Roads. The storm was on the ground for 3.6 miles, and was 150 yards
wide. It dissipated at 7:17 a.m. about 2.9 miles west-southwest of Applegate in
a field just northeast of the intersection of Marlette and Tubbs roads. There
are no reports of any injuries at this time.
The National Weather Service also confirms that a third
tornado touched down in St. Clair County, near Yale. Experts say the EF-0
twister packed winds peaking at 85 miles per hour. It touched down at 7:20
a.m., 5.3 miles east-northeast of Yale near the intersection of Kilgore and
Jeddo Roads. It traveled .8 miles before lifting just east of the intersection
of Jeddo and Duce Roads at 7:21 a.m. There are no reported injuries.
EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES
TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.
EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH
The tornadoes were brought on by a cold air mass slamming into a very unusually warm air mass across Michigan,. Michigan spent the last 4 days with high temps feeling more like Summer than November with record temperatures in the mid 70s to near 80.
