(WWJ) The National Weather Service has officially confirmed that seven tornadoes touched down across Michigan on Thursday night — six them in Metro Detroit.
NWS said the twisters, ranging from a weak EF-0 to a powerful EF-2, hit the ground in Canton, Belleville, Gibraltar, Newport and South Rockwood. A sixth touched down in Williamston in Ingham County, then tracking into Livingston County, and a seventh hit in Kent County, outside of Grand Rapids.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Sarah Schultz says we got a year's worth of tornadoes in just a matter of hours for the county warning area in Southeast Michigan.
"Well, we usually see average six per year and yes, we did, you know, see that in one evening," Schultz said.
She acknowledged that six tornadoes in Metro Detroit in a single night is certainly a rare occurrence.
"It doesn't happen often, which is a good thing...but it does," Schultz said. "We did have that system that rolled thorough...we had that very strong line of severe weather and, you know, when that rolls through that quickly we can get those spin-ups like we saw (Thursday) night."
Schultz said the tornadoes did the most damage to trees, several of which came down on houses.
One death and three injuries near Williamston were attributed to the tornado, when — at its most powerful, with wind speeds of 110 mph — the twister flipped semi trucks and damages a couple dozen other vehicles on I-96.
In the wake of these storms, many Michiganders are asking: Where does Thursday's tornado outbreak rank in history?
Despite six tornadoes touching down in Metro Detroit part of seven total across the, NWS experts say Thursday wasn't even close to being the worst day for tornadoes in Metro Detroit or Michigan history.
Metro Detroit saw the most tornadoes in a single day on July 7, 1997, when 13 tornadoes touched down statewide.
The worst day ever for tornadoes was May 21, 2001, when 19 tornadoes were reported across the states.
The last time Metro Detroit saw six confirmed tornadoes in a single day was 2015, according NWS surveys.
Related
Related
