F0 tornado, Gobles, Michigan, May 12, 2000

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

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

2. F173 to 112 mph

   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

F0

Date

May 12, 2000

Touchdown

7:43 PM EDT (23:43 UTC)

Path length

0.1 miles (0.2 km)

Path width

10 yards (9 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Van Buren County

Touchdown point

42.350, -85.870

Lift-off point

42.350, -85.870

Record number

221

A large severe thunderstorm outbreak produced numerous reports of large hail across mainly Allegan and Barry Counties during the evening. There were many reports from trained spotters and law enforcement of one inch hail in both Fennville and Saugatuck, in Allegan County, between 5:40 and 5:50 p.m. EST. One inch hail was also reported in Glenn in Allegan County at 5:51 p.m. EST by a trained spotter. A report from local media was received of .88" hail in Newaygo (Newaygo County) at 6:03 p.m. EST. There was a very brief touchdown of a F0 tornado 4 miles north northeast of Gobles in an open field at 6:43 p.m. EST, with only very minor damage to a few trees and crops. Numerous reports of .88" hail were also received from trained spotters in Allegan (Allegan County) at 7:14 p.m. EST. Severe thunderstorm wind gusts to 60 m.p.h. were reported between 6:45 and 6:51 p.m. EST by trained spotters in Nashville, and law enforcement near Gun Lake, both in Barry County. Law enforcement reported that several trees and power lines were downed in the vicinity of Gun Lake. .88" hail was also reported 5 miles south of the city of Allegan (Allegan County) at 6:52 p.m. EST by a trained spotter. One inch hail was reported 2 miles north of Dowling (Barry County) at 7:30 p.m. EST. In addition to hail, the thunderstorms also produced torrential rainfall which produced some flash flooding in Allegan and Barry Counties. Four feet of water was reported 4 miles northwest of Fennville at the intersection of 63rd street and M-89 by a trained spotter at 6:15 p.m. EST. A trained spotter reported that a road was washed out in Wayland at the intersection of 1st and 104th streets at 8:30 p.m. EST. A road and private driveway was washed out in Carlton Township (Barry County) at 9 p.m. EST, and the Barry County Road Commission reported that several secondary roads were temporaraily under water. Earlier in the day, there was one isolated severe thunderstorm that produced three quarters inch hail in Harrison (Clare County) at 3:55 p.m. EST.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:25 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2000 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

11 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.