Tornadoes · United States · Michigan · 2010
EF1 tornado, Utica Arpt to Mt Clemens, Michigan, August 19, 2010
From Utica Arpt to Mt Clemens, this EF1 tornado ran 2.5 miles across Macomb County on August 19, 2010, touching down at 7:29 PM EDT and reaching 250 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $500,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- August 19, 2010
- Touchdown
- 7:29 PM EDT (23:29 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:35 PM EDT (23:35 UTC)
- On the ground
- 6 minutes
- Path length
- 2.5 miles (4.1 km)
- Path width
- 250 yards (229 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $500,000
- County
- Macomb County
- Touchdown point
- 42.663, -82.978
- Lift-off point
- 42.627, -82.966
- Record number
- 1008191729-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A supercell developed over far northern Saginaw late in the afternoon, then tracked southeast along a frontal boundary. This storm produced a swath of wind damage, large hail, and eventually spawning two tornadoes as it moved through Macomb County.
A tornado touched down near the intersection of 22 Mile and Hayes Road at 729 pm, tracking south-southeast before lifting at 735 pm just east of Hayes Road on M-59. Maximum winds were estimated to be up to 90 mph. Damage included multiple homes with roof damage, along with downed trees and power lines.
A tornado touched down on Dorchestour Court at 740 pm, just east of Romeo Plank and north of Canal Road. The tornado tracked southeast before lifting at 748 pm just west of the intersection of 14 Mile Road and Harper Avenue. Maximum winds were estimated up to 85 mph. A few homes sustained window, garage, and shingle damage. Wooden fences were blown over. Numerous trees were blown down.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
25 minutes of warning. NWS DTX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:04 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23:04 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | DTX |
| 23:40 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | DTX |
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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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
11.5 hours before the tornado, 38 km from the path. August 19, 2010.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 19 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -64 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1282 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 118 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.1 K/km
Detroit, MI (KDTX), 00:00Z
0.5 hours after it, 38 km from the path. August 20, 2010.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 432 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 963 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1484 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 93 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 97 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.8 K/km
The radar
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 41 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:27 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:34 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Wnw Lapeer | Lapeer, MI | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN |
| 22:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 E Davison | Genesee, MI | NUMEROUS POWERLINES AND 24-30 INCH DIAMETER TREES DOWN |
| 22:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Se Davison | Genesee, MI | DAMAGE TO ROOF, 3 INCH DIAMETER STEAL FLAG POLE BENT |
| 22:38 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 E Davison | Lapeer, MI | ROOF OFF, BOATS FLIPPED |
| 22:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nw Metamora | Lapeer, MI | LARGE BUSINESS SIGNS BLOWN DOWN |
| 22:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Metamora | Lapeer, MI | NUMEROUS LARGE TREES DOWNED |
| 23:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sse Oxford | Oakland, MI | NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN |
| 23:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Oxford | Oakland, MI | NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED THROUGHOUT TOWN WITH ESSENTIALLY ALL TREES IN DOWNTOWN AREA DAMAGED. POWERLINES ARE ALSO DOWNED AND ELECTRICITY IS OUT. |
| 23:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Wnw Oxford | Oakland, MI | 7 TO 8 INCH DIAMETER TREES DOWN. SEVERAL SMALLER 4 INCH BRANCHES DOWN |
| 23:07 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lake Orion | Oakland, MI | 8 TO 10 INCH DIAMETER LIMBS DOWNED |
| 23:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 S Romeo | Macomb, MI | NUMEROUS TREE LIMBS UP TO 10 INCHES IN DIAMETER DOWNED ALONG VAN DYKE FROM 22 TO 25 MILE ROADS. |
| 23:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Shelby Township | Macomb, MI | NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED IN STONY CREEK PARK WITH BOATS IN DRY DOCK BLOWN OVER. |
| 23:25 UTC | NON-TSTM WND DMG | Shelby Township | Macomb, MI | 4 10 INCH DIAMETER TREES DOWNED BY ESTIMATED 60 MPH WINDS. |
| 23:27 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Wsw Macomb Township | Macomb, MI | A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 22 MILE ROAD AND HAYES ROAD. THE TORNADO...WITH WINDS ESTIMATED UP TO 90 MPH...TOUCHED DOWN AT 727 PM AND TRACKED NEA |
| 23:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 W Macomb Township | Macomb, MI | NUMEROUS 15 INCH TREES DOWN |
| 23:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Sterling Heights | Macomb, MI | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN |
| 23:31 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 5 Ese Rochester | Macomb, MI | |
| 23:32 UTC | TSTM WND GST 74 | 4 Wsw Macomb Township | Macomb, MI | |
| 23:32 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 Wsw Macomb Township | Macomb, MI | |
| 23:35 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Sterling Heights | Macomb, MI | |
| 23:40 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 3 Ssw Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | |
| 23:43 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Sw Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON GROESBECK HIGHWAY, A HALF MILE NORTH OF 16 MILE ROAD. THE TORNADO...WITH WINDS ESTIMATED UP TO 85 MPH...TOUCHED DOWN AT 743 PM AND TRACKED |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ese Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | SEVERAL TREES DOWN |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ssw Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | LARGE LIMBS DOWN AT 15 MILE AND LITTLE MACK |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ssw Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | MULTIPLE LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF GRATIOT AND 15 MILE ROADS. NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED SEVERAL FEET ABOVE THE GROUND. |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ene Rochester | Macomb, MI | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN NEAR AND ALONG 26 MILE BETWEEN MOUND AND VAN DYKE ROADS. |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Clinton Township | Macomb, MI | NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED BETWEEN 8 AND 18 INCHES IN DIAMETER |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | SEVERAL LARGE TREES UP TO 18 INCHES IN DIAMETER DOWNED |
| 23:46 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ssw Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | TREE DIVIDED HOUSE IN HALF |
| 23:48 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sse Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI | UPROOTED TREES 30 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND ANOTHER TREE SNAPPED 4 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND |
| 23:48 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 5 S Mount Clemens | Macomb, MI |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of August 19, 2010
1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 19 | 7:40 PM EDT | EF0 | Macomb, MI | 5.0 | 200 | $300,000 |
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.