Event Overview

A line of severe thunderstorms impacted lower Michigan during the evening hours of August 28th, 2018. Strong winds of 50 to 60 mph were common along the line with pockets of intense damaging winds of 75 to 90 mph. There were also two tornadoes embedded within the strongest winds near Baldwin and Idlewild. The most extensive damage was along US-10 from Ludington to Reed City, with separate areas of intense damage near Big Rapids and Le Roy.  In all, the line of storms was responsible for 25 tornadoes across Wisconsin and Michigan (19 in Wisconsin, 6 in Michigan). 

Summary of the damage surveys conducted after the event.

Note that it can be difficult to ascertain whether tornadoes occur in a broader region of straight line winds.  Tornadoes that develop in lines of thunderstorms are often weak and transient, leading to short (and at times discontinuous) damage paths. Yet, the region of damaging winds in which tornadoes may be embedded often has wind speeds similar (if not stronger) in magnitude compared to the weak tornadoes.  While we try our best to determine if tornadoes indeed occurred using both radar data and in-person damage surveys, sometimes determinations can not be made.  Keep in mind that winds do not have to rotate to be dangerous as the majority of damage surveyed from this event was not produced by tornadoes. 

This storm system impacted a large portion of the Great Lakes.  Check out other storm summaries, including information on additional tornadoes, below:

Northern Michigan (NWS Gaylord)

Central Wisconsin 1 (NWS Milwaukee)

Central Wisconsin 2 (NWS Green Bay)

SPC Storm Reports

Note: The information in this storm summary is considered preliminary and may change in the coming weeks as additional information is examined. Moreover, this summary does not represent the full scale of damage across the area.  Swaths of damage from severe winds also occurred in Oceana, Newaygo, and Clare Counties.

• Tornadoes
• Damaging Winds
• Radar
• 3-Day Rainfall Totals

Tornadoes:

Tornado: Baldwin Lake County Date August 28, 2018 Time (Local) 7:27 PM EDT EF Rating EF-0 Est. Peak Winds 85 mph Path Length 1 mile Max Width 500 yards Injuries/Deaths 0 Summary: An EF-0 tornado with estimated max winds of 85 mph caused tree and property damage in the village of Baldwin.  Path length was about 1 mile with a maximum path width of around 500 yards.  A second tornado touched down in Lake county around one mile to the southeast of the end of the track of this tornado, near Idlewild.  Track Map

Damage to trees along Michigan Ave near Cedar street in Baldwin	Uprooted trees near Eight and Norway streets in Baldwin	Damage to a building along Eighth street near Michigan Ave near downtown Baldwin.	Downed trees near the intersection of Oak and 9th streets in Baldwin

 

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Tornado: Idlewild Lake County Date August 28, 2018 Time (Local) 7:30 PM EDT EF Rating EF-1 Est. Peak Winds 100 mph Path Length 1 mile Max Width 500 yards Injuries/Deaths 0 Summary: EF-1 tornado with estimated max winds of 100 mph caused tree and property damage just east of the village of Baldwin near Idlewild.  The path length was around 1 mile with a maximum path width of around 500 yards.  The tornado was the second produced by this storm and touched down just under one mile from the end of the track of the previous tornado.  Track Map

Extensive tree damage along Indianapolis Ave west of Idlewild	Snapped trees along Jenkins Street west of Idlewild	.

 

The Baldwin and Idlewild tornadoes were produced by the same storm but there was a clear separation in damage between the two paths.

 

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The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

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Damaging Winds:

Le Roy / Wells Lake Osceola County Date August 28, 2018 Time (Local) 7:49 - 8:02 PM EDT Est. Peak Winds 70 - 80 MPH Injuries/Deaths 0 Summary: A narrow corridor of damaging winds was surveyed near Wells lake.  The damage started just west of 170th ave and continued over Wells lake eastward.  Several trees were uprooted or snapped west of the lake with winds estimated near 70 mph.  More extensive damage was found on the east side of the lake where two boats were flipped and nearly every tree was snapped or uprooted.    Eyewitness accounts of the winds lasting on the order of minutes as well as the prevalence of damage oriented northwestward suggested straight line winds rather than a tornado.  Track Map     Snapped trees along Marilyn Drive on the west side of Wells Lake A large tree was snapped and thrown 50 ft on Marilyn Drive on the west side of Wells Lake A pontoon boat and attached dock were flipped on the east side of Wells Lake Considerable tree damage on the east side of Wells Lake just off of Wells Drive

 

Mecosta County   Date August 28, 2018 Time (Local) 7:49 PM EDT Est. Peak Winds 75 - 90 MPH Injuries/Deaths 0 Summary: Damage from thunderstorm winds estimated at 75 - 90 mph stretched from Paris to Big Rapids to Stanwood. Numerous downed trees and damage to property from falling trees was found with the worst damage northwest of Stanwood.  Track Map         The worst damage was in a relatively rural area where a nearly complete "blow down" occurred.

Mason County   Date August 28, 2018 Time (Local) 7:00 PM EDT Est. Peak Winds 70 - 80 MPH Injuries/Deaths 0 (Pictures not available for this survey) Track Map

 

Radar:

 

A line of severe thunderstorms quickly advanced from Wisconsin into lower Michigan prompting an array of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. A separate cluster of storms developed over Allegan and Kent counties with generally 40-50 mph (isolated 60 mph) wind gusts locally downing trees. 

Base reflectivity from KGRR (Grand Rapids) between approximately 6:30 to 9:00 PM ET.  The orange (green) polygons are Severe Thunderstorm or Special Marine (Flash Flood) warnings.

 

3-Day Rainfall Total:

 

Multiple rounds of thunderstorms impacted lower Michigan from 8/26 to 8/29, leading to fairly widespread rainfall totals greater than 2" north of I-96.  The hardest hit areas in Muskegon county saw nearly 8-10" by the time the rain stopped.