Lake Michigan, 2024

Waterspout in Lake Michigan, August 9, 2024

August 9, 2024 · NWS APX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Unseasonably cool air mass over the warm Great Lakes favored development of waterspouts, including one which was spotted off Leland, MI.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS APX wrote it up.

Unseasonably cool air mass over the warm Great Lakes favored development of waterspouts, including one which was spotted off Leland, MI.

The radar

The NCL Michigan radar (KAPX), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:24 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.

Waterspout, Sleeping Bear Point to Grand Traverse Light Mi

When
August 9, 7:25 PM EST
Where
Sleeping Bear Point to Grand Traverse Light Mi forecast zone, Leland
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
45.020, -85.780

Public took photos and video of a waterspout over Lake Michigan near Leland.

What these are

Waterspout
A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Lake Michigan in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather history

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1205520.