TornadoLookup

Home / Michigan / Kent

EF1 tornado in Kent County, Michigan

Tornado May 15, 2025 · Kent County, Michigan

EF1
Rating
14.5 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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 resulted in mostly tree damage along its 14.5 mile path. The tornado developed just east of the Thornapple River northeast of Caledonia. There it tracked northeast with the peak damage near Campbell Lake where houses sustained roof damage. The track continued northeast crossing I-96 around Hastings Road

before ending just south of Saranac. The tornado began in Kent County and ended in Ionia County.

The wider storm

A severe weather outbreak occurred on May 15-16 across lower Michigan that brought 8 tornadoes to the Grand Rapids forecast area and saw straight line winds in excess of 100 mph impact counties along the Lake Michigan shore on May 15. Large hail also occurred with storms on May 16. Tens of thousands were without power, some for several days due to the widespread nature of this severe weather event.

Began near Dutton (42.8000, -85.4700).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Allegan CountyEF1 Allegan CountyEF1 Eaton CountyEF0 Ottawa CountyEF0 Calhoun County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1265941. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.