Tornado and Hail in Michigan, April 16, 1998

A warm front moved north into southern Michigan on the morning of the 16th, as an area of low pressure moved northeast into the southwest corner of the state. Plentiful sunshine during the afternoon allowed for rapid destablization, and a number of severe thunderstorms developed near the warm front. Thunderstorm activity was mostly multicellular in nature.The first severe thunderstorm of the day crossed Saginaw and Midland Counties, and produced dime-sized hail in the city of Saginaw. A car was struck by lightning just north of the Zilwaukee Bridge on I-75, damaging ham radio equipment and flattening a tire. A separate storm blew over a corn crib in eastern Shiawassee County, while spotters reported severe winds with another thunderstorm in Fenton. The Fenton storm then produced golfball-sized hail and downed trees east of Holly.A northwest-southeast oriented band of thunderstorms developed in the Thumb area, and these storms provided the majority of severe weather during the late afternoon hours. Most of the storms within this band were pulse-type storms, producing dime-sized hail and severe downbursts at isolated locations. A strong downburst took place in eastern Tuscola County, where a horse barn was leveled, trees were uprooted, siding of a nearby house and garage was damaged, and a children's swing set was wrapped around a tree. The same decaying storm moved into Evergreen Township in Sanilac County, where it heavily damaged a barn and tore the roofing off of a shed. An isolated storm behind this band produced some dime-sized hail in Lapeer.The southernmost storm of this band would become the most potent storm of the day. It acquired supercell characteristics as it moved east across Sanilac County. This storm first caused damage when it downed trees southeast of Sandusky. Rotation in the storm continued to intensify, and a tornado formed between Carsonville and Applegate - the first tornado in Sanilac County since September 2, 1984. The tornado had a continual damage path from its first touchdown until it moved out over Lake Huron at Port Sanilac. Ping-pong to golfball-sized hail preceded the tornado by a few minutes from Carsonville to Port Sanilac. Four homes, ten barns, five silos, and a grain bin were destroyed. Twelve homes and six barns were damaged. Significant damage was done to the public marina in Port Sanilac. Two hundred people were left without power overnight. There were no human casualties, but a horse had to be euthanised after it was seriously injured.The supercell storm put out an outflow boundary, and an isolated severe thunderstorm developed along this boundary after the supercell had moved out over the open lake. This last severe storm produced large hail along the St. Clair - Sanilac county line.