Hannah.Taylor
EF5
I called my chase a little while ago when I started seeing storm motions of 50kts. No sense getting run over by a tornado. There will be another day to chase.
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2026-03-06 EVENT: OK/KS/MO/IA
- Thread starter Dan Robinson
- Start date
Seeing reporting of three dead and 12 injured in Michigan. The tornado looked pretty violent.
Hannah.Taylor
EF5
Pics from Michigan Storm chasers. I'm seeing comments there was no tornado watch, tornado warning and no sirens. 4 fatalties and over a dozen injuries.
Hannah.Taylor
EF5
JamesCaruso
Staff member
SPC storm reports also show fatalities in OK. The page is not yet showing the MI fatalities.
Blake Naftel
EF3
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2004
- Messages
- 266
While no tornado watch was in place for the lone event, it was considered and mentioned as a MD by SPC.
Multiple tornado warnings did follow as both radar and spotter/chaser/public reports rolled in. A T-storm watch was later issued ahead of the QLCS line that followed later in the evening. The lone supercell responsible for multiple tornadoes in SWL MI exhibited messy modes but a persistent mesocyclone on radar across NW Indiana with multiple cell mergers occuring up west of South Bend until it reached Edwardsburg, Michigan when it went tornadic. The storm unfortunately resulted in Michigan's deadliest day for tornado related deaths in 46 years with three reported fatalities and 12 injuries.
Multiple CAMs alluded to isolated convection developing along the warm front in Southwest Michigan but jumped around with specific timing and geospatial location I noticed on every other run, certainly per the HRRR. CAPEs around 1500 J/kg, dewpoints in the low 60's, surface temps in the low to mid 60's and multiple other parameters in place. A sampled simulated HRRR sounding an hour before the event around Schoolcraft (in southern Kalamazoo County) is attached here.
The most visual image from the entire event that stands out was taken around Union City, Michigan with a significant tornado striking a neighborhood with a frozen lake in the foreground.
Blake
Multiple tornado warnings did follow as both radar and spotter/chaser/public reports rolled in. A T-storm watch was later issued ahead of the QLCS line that followed later in the evening. The lone supercell responsible for multiple tornadoes in SWL MI exhibited messy modes but a persistent mesocyclone on radar across NW Indiana with multiple cell mergers occuring up west of South Bend until it reached Edwardsburg, Michigan when it went tornadic. The storm unfortunately resulted in Michigan's deadliest day for tornado related deaths in 46 years with three reported fatalities and 12 injuries.
Multiple CAMs alluded to isolated convection developing along the warm front in Southwest Michigan but jumped around with specific timing and geospatial location I noticed on every other run, certainly per the HRRR. CAPEs around 1500 J/kg, dewpoints in the low 60's, surface temps in the low to mid 60's and multiple other parameters in place. A sampled simulated HRRR sounding an hour before the event around Schoolcraft (in southern Kalamazoo County) is attached here.
The most visual image from the entire event that stands out was taken around Union City, Michigan with a significant tornado striking a neighborhood with a frozen lake in the foreground.
Blake
William Monfredo
EF4
It immediately got me thinking yesterday about the possibility of a pre-existing circulation set up near the land & the water/ice interface
based upon air temperature & density contrasts that might have provided localized enhancement for tornado production/maintenance.
Blake Naftel
EF3
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2004
- Messages
- 266
Now that would be a fascinating case study!
Dan Robinson
EF5
As bad as the HRRR was doing with a lot of yesterday, I have to give it credit for picking up on the warm front supercell up there. It was fairly consistent with it happening, just a little off on the location. It had it basically doing what it did, just further west, right in the heart of Chicagoland.
William Monfredo
EF4
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How about that....
Yesterday's SPC tornado-probability appeared as two percent in southern Michigan with an intensity rating of zero or nothing.
The preliminary tornado rating for the deadly Union City, MI storm...at least an EF-3.
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