EF1 tornado, Plainwell to Doster, Michigan, April 8, 2008

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

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

3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

6. EF5over 200 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

EF1

Date

April 8, 2008

Touchdown

1:39 AM EDT (05:39 UTC)

Lifted

1:44 AM EDT (05:44 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

4.7 miles (7.5 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

Counties

Barry and Allegan counties

Touchdown point

42.440, -85.581

Lift-off point

42.489, -85.518

Record number

0804082339-01

A National Weather Service storm survey determined that damage in the southeast corner of Allegan county northeast into Barry county was caused by an EF-1 tornado. The tornado was on the ground for nearly five miles and did significant damage to a horse barn, lifted a trailer adjacent to the barn, damaged gravel yard equipment, lofted a tank, and uprooted numerous large trees. Some trees were snapped off. There were no injuries.

A National Weather Service storm survey determined that damage in the vicinity of 388 3rd Street in the southeast corner of Allegan county was caused by a tornado. The tornado was rated an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Damage Scale. The tornado touched down just southwest of the above address in Allegan county.||The tornado was on the ground for nearly five miles, and traveled to the northeast. It did significant damage to a horse barn, lifted a trailer adjacent to the barn, damaged gravel yard equipment, lofted a tank, and uprooted numerous large trees. Some trees were snapped off.||No one was injured. The damage was concentrated about four miles east of Plainwell and extended from the 300 block of 102nd Avenue to the northeast, crossing 106th Avenue in the 100 to 200 block section.

A National Weather Service storm survey determined that the EF-1 tornado that touched down just southwest of 388 3rd Street in the southeast corner of Allegan county continued northeast into Barry county. The tornado knocked down numerous trees near Pine Lake, southwest of Prairieville.

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:55 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 Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:37 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

1 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.