F1 Tornado — Dickinson, Michigan

2002-09-30 · near Kingsford, Dickinson, Michigan

Event narrative

This tornado developed over northeast Florence County, WI (See Storm Data for Wisconsin, Northeastern, for more information on the beginning portion of this tornado) and crossed the Menominee River just south of the Iron Mountain-Kingsford airport. The storm moved east-northeast into Kingsford and Iron Mountain. As the storm moved into Iron Mountain, the track shifted more to the east and the damage path became more sporadic before the tornado lifted completely on the east side of Iron Mountain. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down, blocking highway US-2 and disrupting electric power and telephone service. Gas lines were ruptured and several commercial buildings sustained substantial roof damage in Kingsford.

Wider weather episode

On Sep 30, a short wave moving from the plains into south central Canada brought a warm front into Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Scattered thunderstorms developed along the front, with several of these storms becoming severe. One supercell that originally developed in an area of higher shear over northern Wisconsin produced three tornadoes and extensive downburst wind damage in southern Dickinson County when it encountered an outflow boundary from earlier convection. The majority of damage to the Iron Mountain, Kingsford and Quinnesec areas was caused by downburst winds, which knocked trees into homes, downed power lines, etc. The most significant damage was produced by the tornado that moved through Kingsford and Iron Mountain.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (45.7833, -88.0833)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5316736. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.