EF0 tornado in Shiawassee County, Michigan

The tornado touched down close to the intersection of Bennington Greens Drive and Innsbrook Drive, snapping pine trees. The tornado continued northeast, crossing M-52 near West Grand River Road. Hardwood trees were observed snapped with large limbs down. The tornado then hit a Farm along South Morrice Road, just south of W Garrison Road. Trees were uprooted and a well built farm outbuilding lost its roof. The tornado snapped additional trees near Vandecarr and Bennington Roads before lifting near the Maple River.

The first severe weather and tornado event for 2019 in Southeast Michigan occurred on Thursday, March 14. A large, powerful low pressure system moved up across the central Plains, with weather ranging from blizzards to tornadoes. There were two rounds of weather that occurred across Southeast Michigan, the first round of severe weather raced northeast across the area as storms traveled at 100 mph! The second round of severe weather, which is what brought the tornadoes to the area, was a line of thunderstorms that moved northeast just ahead of a cold front. As this line moved across the area, there were multiple areas of circulation embedded with the line which resulted in four tornado touchdowns across Shiawassee and Genesee counties. Three out of the four tornadoes were weak and rated an EF-0. The tornado that hit near Vernon, MI, was rated an EF-2. Some debris (insulation/lighter metal) from the M-71 area in Vernon was carried 7 miles by the tornado. The Shiawassee Emergency Manager reported 135 structures, 94 homes, 4 businesses, 16 barns and 22 RVs were damaged or destroyed in the wake of the storms.