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F2 tornado in Livingston County, Michigan

Tornado May 21, 2001 · Livingston County, Michigan

F2
Rating
9.6 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
3
Injuries
$3.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado developed near Hartland High School and Lake Walden, and moved north parallel to US-23, eventually crossing that busy highway between Clyde and Faussett Roads. There was a brief break in the damage path south of Center Road, but the tornado reformed again north of Center Road, this time back on the west side of US-23. The tornado continued north into Genesee County.Most of the damage to trees and structures was consistent with a weak tornado. However, near and north of the Majestic Golf Course, damage was considerably more intense, justifying an F2 rating. Seventy vehicles in the golf course parking lot were damaged (rolled, tossed, or struck by debris), with twelve of them totaled. Thirty five golf carts were destroyed, and a pontoon boat used to transport golfers was flipped. A large piece of a wooden footbridge was tossed through the enclosed back porch of the clubhouse. An amputee organization was having a golf outing that afternoon. Thankfully, the golf carts were equipped with G.P.S. units, and the course sent a message out on those units that a tornado was approaching. Only one person on the course suffered a minor injury (exact injury undisclosed). Three homes were destroyed near Clyde Road and US-23, as were a party store and a towing company that shared a building. A man at the party store suffered a minor hand injury, and two vehicles at the towing company were totaled. Several hundred trees were downed in this general area.Further north, several cars and semis were flipped when the tornado crossed US-23. One driver of a semi suffered a head injury when his truck overturned, though he was not seriously hurt. The TRW plant on Center Road lost a small part of its roof. Several cars in the parking of Tyrone Hills Golf Course had windows blown out. As the tornado moved across agricultural land, three cows were killed.

The wider storm

A warm front moved slowly north into southeast Michigan, ushering in warmer and more humid air. Scattered thunderstorms developed south of the warm front around midday. They storms also moved north, at a faster pace than the warm front. A few of these storms produced tornadoes when they caught up to the warm front.

Began near Hartland (42.5333, -83.6167).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5244498. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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