Tornadoes · United States · Michigan

2004 tornadoes in Michigan

23 tornadoes touched down in Michigan in 2004, 49 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2003 2005 The whole country in 2004

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.

Every tornado in Michigan in 2004

May 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 13	6:32 PM EDT	F0	Shiawassee	2.0	20

May 14 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 14	3:38 PM EDT	F0	Clinton	3.5	75	$150,000
May 14	4:20 PM EDT	F1	Saginaw	4.0	125	$250,000
May 14	6:03 PM EDT	F0	Lapeer	0.1	10
May 14	6:11 PM EDT	F0	Saint Clair	0.5	30	$10,000
May 14	6:56 PM EDT	F0	Sanilac	0.1	10

May 22 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 22	3:58 PM EDT	F0	Saginaw	2.5	50
May 22	4:02 PM EDT	F0	Saginaw	0.2	30
May 22	4:35 PM EDT	F0	Shiawassee	0.1	20
May 22	4:45 PM EDT	F1	Tuscola	1.0	50	$10,000
May 22	5:10 PM EDT	F0	Sanilac	1.0	50	$20,000

May 23 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 23	6:00 PM EDT	F0	Genesee	0.1	20
May 23	6:10 PM EDT	F0	Genesee	0.1	5
May 23	8:30 PM EDT	F1	Saint Clair	1.0	75	$10,000

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	5:20 PM EDT	F1	Saint Clair	1.5	80			$50,000

June 13 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 13	2:05 PM EDT	F0	Montcalm	0.1	10	$2,000
June 13	3:50 PM EDT	F0	Bay	3.0	100	$10,000
June 13	6:00 PM EDT	F1	Huron	2.0	200	$30,000
June 13	6:30 PM EDT	F1	Montmorency	7.2	50	$160,000

July 21 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 21	7:20 PM EDT	F0	Berrien	0.1	15
July 21	6:35 PM EST	F0	Cass	0.5	50

August 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 25	5:53 PM EDT	F0	Eaton	0.2	30			$50,000

August 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 27	6:05 AM EDT	F0	Isabella	0.2	30			$30,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Michigan since 1950 Warnings in force in Michigan The live radar over Michigan

What this means

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.

Sources

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