EF1 tornado, Needmore to Bretton Woods, Michigan, June 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

June 8, 2008

Touchdown

3:45 PM EDT (19:45 UTC)

Lifted

3:56 PM EDT (19:56 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

9.7 miles (15.7 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

1

Injuries

0

County

Eaton County

Touchdown point

42.700, -84.820

Lift-off point

42.720, -84.630

Record number

0806081345-01

NWS storm survey teams determined that one EF1 tornado struck Osceola county. Another EF1 tornado struck Eaton county and continued into extreme western Ingham county before dissipating. Extensive damage was documented in association with both tornadoes. Severe thunderstorms also produced numerous reports of wind damage and large hail.

A storm survey team determined that an EF1 tornado developed over Cochran road about four miles southwest of Grand Ledge. Though briefly weakening to EF0 status shortly after descent... the tornado regained it's EF1 status before finally lifting immediately east of the Eckert Plant in Lansing.||Some large tree limbs were blown down and a few spruce trees were uprooted by winds estimated to be up to 63 mph along Mulliken road and Needmore highway. More significant damage was noted on Cochran road north of Needmore highway. Numerous trees and limbs were blown down... a porch awning was blown off and a garage was completely destroyed. An EF1 tornado rating was assigned for the damage on Cochran road. ||The tornado continued on Strange highway briefly weakening to EF0. Multiple large trees were uprooted along Strange highway approaching M-100 (Hartel road). Moderate to significant roof damage was observed on four different homes heading north on M-100 where the tornado regained it's EF1 status. ||Dozens of large spruces and maples were uprooted on Mt. Hope highway |and four barns were destroyed. Significant roof damage to homes reappeared as well. A woman was killed when a large trailer was flipped on top of her in Delta township on Mt. Hope highway between Nixon and Guinea roads. ||The tornado continued toward a subdivision on the west side of Lansing. |Numerous large trees were uprooted on North Cambridge road and a few landed on homes. The country club of Lansing was also affected by downed trees and limbs as the tornado moved into far western Ingham county.

The deaths

1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:00 UTC and running to 21:16 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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:05 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.

Lansing (LAN), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:46 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

9 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.