1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 2:03 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 303 PM EDT MON MAY 31 2004 .DISCUSSION... MODELS OVERALL SIMILAR THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. AT 500 MB...STRONG VORTICITY LOBE WILL HAVE LIFTED NORTHWARD TO NORTH OF FORECAST AREA BY EARLY THIS EVENING...THEN GREAT LAKES LOCKED INTO LOW/TROUGH UNTIL MID WEEK...WITH GFS STILL MORE RELUCTANT TO WEAKEN THE INITIAL LOW OVER UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THAN OTHER MODELS. AT THE SURFACE...TROUGH WILL HAVE LIFTED UP TO NORTH OF AREA BY EARLY EVENING...THANKS TO BOOST TODAY FROM MID LEVEL JET SOUTH OF THE GREAT LAKES. DRY SLOT VERY EVIDENT ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY OVERHEAD TO MOVE OFF TO THE EAST THIS EVENING...THEN 850 TO 500 MB MOISTURE MODEST TO GOOD AT LEAST INTO WEDNESDAY...MUCH DRIER BY THURSDAY. NOT A LOT OF 925 MB MOISTURE UNTIL BETTER DEVELOPING TUESDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING WEDNESDAY WITH TROUGH. COLDER TEMPERATURES ALOFT NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WILL COMBINE WITH AVAILABLE MOISTURE TO AID IN LARGELY DIURNAL SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS...AS LAPSE RATES IN THE 850 TO 700 MB LAYER STEEPEN TO AS MUCH AS 7 OR 8 DEGREES C/KM. SYNOPTIC LIFT WILL HAVE LARGELY LIFTED TO NORTH OF AREA BY EARLY THIS EVENING. LOW TO MID LEVEL OMEGA FIELDS DEPICT MAINLY WEAK SUBSIDENCE TONIGHT...OCCASIONAL SLIGHT LIFT THEN THROUGH MID WEEK. 850 TO 500 MB QVECTOR CONVERGENCE ALSO SHOWING DIVERGENCE/SUBSIDENCE TONIGHT...WITH WEAK CONVERGENCE/LIFT TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. AS FOR THERMODYNAMICS...PARTICULARLY ETA SHOWS SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE CAPES AND LIFTED INDICES INTO THIS EVENING...ACTUALLY RESURGING A BIT LATE TONIGHT ALBEIT WITH RISING CIN/CONVECTIVE INHIBITION...THEN MODEST INSTABILITY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING...LESS WEDNESDAY. SHOWALTER INDICES LOWEST AT AROUND ZERO TONIGHT...THEN TRENDING MORE STABLE THEREAFTER THROUGH MID WEEK. K INDICES PREVAILING IN THE 25 TO 30 RANGE INTO MID WEEK. GIVEN ABOVE INDICATIONS...WILL RETAIN SCATTERED MENTION TONIGHT ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF ONGOING CONVECTION...THEN SOME MENTION THROUGH WEDNESDAY SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS FORECAST PACKAGE. LATER PERIODS... PLENTY OF DETAIL DIFFERENCES AMONG MODELS...BUT THEY DO KEEP THE CONSENSUS OF SHEDDING PERSISTENT 500 MB TROUGH FROM GREAT LAKES BY THURSDAY...THEN RATHER WEAK WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW PREVAILING THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WITH NOT MUCH IN WAY OF SIGNIFICANT FEATURES TO KEY IN ON. AT THE SURFACE...HIGH PRESSURE FINALLY BUILDS IN THURSDAY...WITH HIGH/RIDGE THEN PERSISTING UNTIL SUNDAY...LONGER THAN SEEN YESTERDAY...AT WHICH TIME RETURN FLOW COMMENCES. WILL REMOVE SHOWER MENTION FROM SATURDAY NIGHT...HAVE CHANCE POPS FOR SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY...OTHERWISE NO SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS FORECAST. && .DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && DWD EXPERIMENTAL GRAPHICAL FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX (ALL LOWER CASE)
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 433 PM EDT MON MAY 31 2004 MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-011100- BAY-GENESEE-HURON-LAPEER-LENAWEE-LIVINGSTON-MACOMB-MIDLAND-MONROE- OAKLAND-SAGINAW-SANILAC-SHIAWASSEE-ST. CLAIR-TUSCOLA-WASHTENAW-WAYNE- 433 PM EDT MON MAY 31 2004 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 355 IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE PRIOR TO SUNSET...WITH PENNY SIZED HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH THE PRIMARY HAZARDS. THUNDERSTORMS EARLY THIS EVENING WILL MOVE TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AROUND 35 MPH...WITH MOVEMENT THEN TOWARD THE EAST AROUND 30 MPH THE REST OF TONIGHT. AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVERHEAD WILL RESULT IN THE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. THIS TROUGH...COMBINED WITH LATE SPRING SURFACE HEATING...WILL PRODUCE THE CHANCE OF STRONG AND EVEN SEVERE STORMS EARLY THIS EVENING. .DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AT TIMES TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AND WILL BE MOST PREVALENT DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL RESULT FROM SURFACE HEATING AND CHILLY TEMPERATURES ALOFT...PRODUCING AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS...WITH HAIL UP TO AROUND A HALF INCH IN DIAMETER. THERE IS ANOTHER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY...AS A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... DISPATCHERS...PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGERS IMMEDIATELY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION HAS OCCURRED. DWD HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX (ALL LOWER CASE)
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:40 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A ten year old was blown off his feet and suffered cuts to the head, requiring 5 stitches.
A tornado touched down and damaged a strip mall on Krafft Road and 24th Avenue in Fort Gratiot. Damage was reported across a 1.5 mile area stretching from Sapphire Lane and Krafft Road to the Lowe's home improvement store on 24th Avenue. Six to 10 homes had shingles or siding torn off or other minor damage. About 24 cars were damaged at the shopping center. A construction trailer in the parking lot of the Mercy Village retirement community was blown over, and the vinyl-siding ripped from the west side of the building. Trees were also uprooted along the path of the tornado. No injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Michigan, 2004Warnings in Michigan, May 2004
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5399919, 5399920.