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EF1 tornado in Shiawassee County, Michigan

Tornado August 11, 2023 · Shiawassee County, Michigan

EF1
Rating
3.0 mi
Path length
430 yd
Path width
$1.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 430 yards (0.24 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado touched down three miles west of Perry around Beardslee Rd, just south of W. Britton Rd, and initially traveled through Ruess Rd and Boulder Ln, where downed trees and fallen large tree limbs were observed. The tornado then intensified as it entered into the city of Perry. Damage located around the intersection of Polly St and Lamb St and southeast into the intersection of 2nd St and Washington St consisted of large uprooted trees, sheared large tree limbs, major roofing damage to several outbuildings, and shingle/siding damaging to some residential homes. These locations observed a peak wind around 95 mph with a tornado width around 430 yards. The tornado then weakened while entering the vicinity of Washington and 2nd St

where downed large tree limbs were observed, before lifting just east of this location.

The wider storm

Numerous showers and thunderstorms filtered in across portions of Southeast Michigan through the evening of August 11, 2023. The strongest storms were found within the vicinity of or along a warm front, which produced sporadic reports of hail up to an inch and some isolated damaging wind gusts. Prolonged heavy rainfall also led to flooding within Flint which led to multiple road closures. The most significant damage came from a supercell over Perry, MI, which resulted in the production of an EF-1 tornado with maximum wind gusts up to 95 mph. This tornado was on the ground for 12 minutes and started just west of Perry, before moving into the city. Uprooted and sheared trees, damage to outbuildings, and some siding/shingle damage to residential builds were observed. Downed trees also landed on some residential houses and vehicles, resulting in further damage.

Began near Perry (42.8280, -84.2680).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1129697. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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