Michigan Had Tornadoes Yesterday, But They Weren’t the Kind Forecasters Expected

You know it's Michigan when forecasters aren't really expecting severe weather, and then suddenly we've got tornadoes touching down anyway.

Freeland Takes the Strongest Storm Hit

That happened yesterday in Mid-Michigan, where the National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes. The strongest one hit Freeland around 1:11 yesterday afternoon. It was rated an EF-1 with winds estimated around 90 miles per hour.

READ MORE: More Severe Weather Could Hit Mid-Michigan This Week

The tornado stayed on the ground for about a mile and a half and damaged dozens of homes, businesses, sheds, trees, and even flipped over some campers according to reporting from MLive.

Montrose Tornado Was Brief and Weak

The other tornado happened near Montrose in northern Genesee County. It was so weak and short-lived that meteorologists couldn't even estimate the wind speed. Its path was only about 600 feet long and roughly 30 feet wide, but somebody still managed to catch it on video.

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What's really interesting is that these likely weren't your typical Michigan tornadoes. Meteorologists say they were probably landspouts. Unlike traditional tornadoes that form from a rotating thunderstorm and work their way down from the cloud, landspouts start at the ground and stretch upward. They can form even when the atmosphere doesn't have all the ingredients we normally associate with severe weather outbreaks.

Why Radar Didn't Make These Storms Look Especially Dangerous

That's one reason these storms caught a lot of people off guard. The storms didn't look especially dangerous on radar, but the National Weather Service still issued tornado warnings and ended up being right on target.

READ MORE: This Week Marks The Anniversary of the 1953 Beecher Tornado

It's a good reminder that even on days that don't scream "tornado outbreak," you still need to pay attention when warnings are issued because sometimes Michigan weather likes to throw a curveball.