F1 tornado, Rives Jct to Waterloo, Michigan, June 24, 1998

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F1

Date

June 24, 1998

Touchdown

6:06 PM EDT (22:06 UTC)

Path length

11.3 miles (18.2 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$500,000

County

Jackson County

Touchdown point

42.380, -84.380

Lift-off point

42.350, -84.130

Record number

1200

Scattered severe thunderstorms developed along and north of a northward moving warm front across southern Lower Michigan during the afternoon of Wednesday, June 24th. This severe weather event was characterized by several large hail reports, with golf-ball sized hail reports received from Kent, Barry, Eaton, Ingham, and Jackson Counties and hail of 2 to 3 inches in diameter associated with a supercell thunderstorm as it tracked east-southeast across southern Ingham and northern Jackson County. This supercell thunderstorm developed over eastern Barry County and tracked across Eaton County, southwest Ingham County, and northern Jackson County. This storm resulted in several wind damage and large hail reports, an F0 tornado in southeast Eaton County, and an F1 tornado touched down in north central Jackson County near Layton Corners. No injuries were reported with the tornadoes, but damage was estimated at half a million dollars across Henrietta and Waterloo Townships in northern Jackson County. The supercell thunderstorm resulted in approximately 12,500 power outages across Eaton and Jackson Counties.

The Jackson County Emergency Management Coordinator confirmed a weak tornado touched down just west of Layton Corners, in rural eastern Rives Township, and travelled east-southeast to near Waterloo, along the Washtenaw County line. The tornado was not on the ground for the entire 11.3 mile path, but due to the heavily wooded rural areas it traversed, exact path lengths could not be determined. Path width was narrow, estimated to be 50 yards at maximum width. No injuries or deaths were associated with this F1 tornado. Damage consisted of downed trees and power lines, roof damage to approximately 12 homes, minor structural damage mainly caused by large hail (broken windows, damaged siding, damaged vehicles and aluminum campers) and fallen trees, and overturned boats on Pleasant Lake in Henrietta Township. Hail was estimated to have reached 2 to 3 inches in diameter in association with this tornadic storm. The most significant damage was reported around the Pleasant Lake area, where several boats were overturned and several homes reported minor to moderate structural damage. Along North Meridian Road from near Layton Corners along the west end of Pleasant Lake, 2 homes reported destroyed garages. Pleasant Lake County Park was closed due to downed trees. Waterloo State Recreation Area reported hundreds of trees uprooted, which resulted in the closing of some roads and horse trails. Power outages totaled 5,800 in the affected areas of Henrietta and Waterloo Townships. Damage was estimated at approximately $500,000.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

25 minutes of warning. NWS GRR issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:41 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:40 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 11:20 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Jackson/Reynolds (JXN), 20 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:07 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1998 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.