Tornadoes · United States · Michigan · 2004

F1 tornado, Millington, Michigan, May 22, 2004

This F1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Tuscola County on May 22, 2004, touching down at 4:45 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 of property damage.

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.

  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.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
May 22, 2004
Touchdown
4:45 PM EDT (20:45 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Tuscola County
Touchdown point
43.220, -83.450
Lift-off point
43.220, -83.430
Record number
1080

What the Weather Service recorded

A west to east orientated frontal boundary lifted north through southeast Michigan during the afternoon hours of the 22nd. Multiple weak tornadoes occurred across the Tri-Cities and Thumb region. No injuries were reported with mainly minor damage. Consumers Energy reported that more than 235,000 customers were without power as a result of the May 21st and 22nd storms, the 10th highest total in Consumers Energy history. DTE Energy had 210,000 customers without power over the weekend.

A tornado touched down 1 mile west of Fostoria. Numerous trees were blown down. Two homes also sustained roof damage.

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

The warnings

13 minutes of warning. NWS DTX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:32 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:32 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningDTX
21:26 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningDTX

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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 air that afternoon

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.

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 12:00Z

8.8 hours before the tornado, 56 km from the path. May 22, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2004-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -85812, lifted condensation level 955 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2004-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85812 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
955 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 00:00Z

3.2 hours after it, 56 km from the path. May 23, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2004-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 930 joules per kilogram, CIN -26, lifted condensation level 663 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2004-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 110 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
930 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Surface CAPE
505 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
663 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Flint (FNT), 38 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:53 UTC8168240° 11 kt1007.1
19:53 UTC8168210° 11 kt1005.8
20:46 UTC80.666.2220° 12 kt171005.1-TSRA
20:53 UTC7968240° 9 kt1005.1-TSRA
21:06 UTC71.669.8300° 22 kt271006.1TSRA BR
21:09 UTC69.866.2150° 12 kt321005.4+TSRA FG
21:13 UTC69.866.2340° 18 kt321006.4+TSRA FG
21:19 UTC69.868340° 10 kt251006.1+TSRA FG
21:33 UTC69.869.8330° 11 kt1006.4-TSRA BR
21:38 UTC71.669.8330° 9 kt1006.4-TSRA BR
21:53 UTC7069340° 9 kt1006.4TSRA BR
21:58 UTC69.868310° 7 kt1006.4-TSRA BR
22:35 UTC71.669.8290° 5 kt1006.8BR

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

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:43 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
19:50 UTCTORNADONe ChesaningSaginaw, MITREES AND WIRE DOWN
19:58 UTCTORNADO3 Wsw BurtSaginaw, MITORNADO REPORTED AT GARY AND BUECHE, WIRE AND TREES REPORTED DOWN
20:00 UTCTORNADO2 Nw BurtSaginaw, MITORNADO AT M-13 AND BIRCH RUN, TREES AND WIRES REPORTED DOWN
20:02 UTCTORNADO4 Sw ArthurSaginaw, MITORNADO REPORTED AT M-46 AND BEYER, TREES AND WIRES DOWN
20:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N VassarTuscola, MIUTILITY POLE DOWN
20:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W FostoriaTuscola, MITREE DOWN

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 22, 2004

64 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 223:58 PM EDTF0Saginaw, MI2.550
May 224:02 PM EDTF0Saginaw, MI0.230
May 222:10 PM MDTF0Goshen, WY0.225
May 224:35 PM EDTF0Shiawassee, MI0.120
May 225:10 PM EDTF0Sanilac, MI1.050$20,000
May 223:20 PM MDTF0Logan, CO0.150
May 225:22 PM CDTF0McPherson, NE0.220
May 225:28 PM CDTF0Furnas, NE0.150$10,000
May 225:35 PM CDTF1Furnas, NE3.0400$300,000
May 225:40 PM CDTF0Logan, NE0.110
May 225:40 PM CDTF0Logan, NE2.020
May 225:49 PM CDTF0Harlan, NE0.250$150,000
May 226:04 PM CDTF0Harlan, NE0.2100
May 226:10 PM CDTF0Colfax, NE0.550
May 226:11 PM CDTF0Harlan, NE0.275
May 226:34 PM CDTF1Custer, NE0.220$40,000
May 226:36 PM CDTF0Franklin, NE0.150$10,000
May 226:46 PM CDTF0Webster, NE3.5125$250,000
May 226:50 PM CDTF1Custer, NE0.530$50,000
May 226:53 PM CDTF0Thayer, NE0.275
May 227:00 PM CDTF2Thayer, NE8.0800$2.5 million
May 227:07 PM CDTF1Adair, IA7.1100$50,000
May 227:10 PM CDTF1Adams, NE7.0150$1.0 million
May 227:11 PM CDTF0Madison, IA0.330
May 227:12 PM CDTF0Custer, NE0.210
May 227:13 PM CDTF0Lincoln, NE0.110
May 227:15 PM CDTF1Dodge, NE2.0200
May 227:17 PM CDTF0Custer, NE0.110
May 227:19 PM CDTF2Adams, NE23.0700$5.0 million
May 227:24 PM CDTF0Thayer, NE1.050
May 227:26 PM CDTF1Fillmore, NE2.5100$100,000
May 227:29 PM CDTF1Clay, NE0.225
May 227:30 PM CDTF4Hallam tornado, NE54.04,400138$160 million
May 227:32 PM CDTF1Fillmore, NE2.0150$100,000
May 227:34 PM CDTF0York, NE0.275$40,000
May 227:35 PM CDTF0Jefferson, NE2.080
May 227:45 PM CDTF0Story, IA1.450$2,000
May 227:45 PM CDTF0Dallas, IA0.225
May 227:55 PM CDTF1Dallas, IA5.0100$2,000
May 228:06 PM CDTF0Jasper, IA0.225
May 228:13 PM CDTF0Dallas, IA0.550$1,000
May 228:19 PM CDTF0Harrison, IA0.260
May 228:19 PM CDTF0Marshall, IA0.540
May 228:20 PM CDTF0Jasper, IA0.225
May 228:23 PM CDTF0Jasper, IA0.225
May 228:27 PM CDTF0Dallas, IA0.225
May 228:35 PM CDTF0Jasper, IA0.225
May 228:36 PM CDTF0Jasper, IA1.540$10,000
May 228:40 PM CDTF1Marshall, IA17.0100$10,000
May 228:42 PM CDTF0Republic, KS0.150$10,000
May 228:44 PM CDTF2Republic, KS2.0100$90,000
May 228:45 PM CDTF0Shelby, IA2.0200
May 228:53 PM CDTF1Thayer, NE10.0400$1.0 million
May 228:56 PM CDTF0Republic, KS0.150
May 228:59 PM CDTF0Republic, KS0.150
May 229:06 PM CDTF0Polk, IA2.050
May 229:15 PM CDTF0Tama, IA0.330
May 229:25 PM CDTF0Thayer, NE6.0200$250,000
May 229:30 PM CDTF1Jefferson, NE3.0100
May 229:40 PM CDTF1Cass, NE1.5150

All 65 of them

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.