Tornadoes · United States · Michigan · 2011
EF1 tornado, Coldwater, Michigan, May 29, 2011
This EF1 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Branch County on May 29, 2011, touching down at 4:32 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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
- May 29, 2011
- Touchdown
- 4:32 PM EDT (20:32 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:33 PM EDT (20:33 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.3 miles (0.5 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Branch County
- Touchdown point
- 41.931, -84.977
- Lift-off point
- 41.931, -84.970
- Record number
- 1105291432-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A warm front worked north into portions of far southern lower Michigan during the late morning hours. A line of severe thunderstorms developed in eastern Iowa and moved rapidly east into Indiana. Initially the storms were sub severe as they moved across Lake Michigan but quickly organized and became severe as they entered St. Joseph county. An area of wind damage occurred across St. Joseph county with a brief tornado touched down in Coldwater in Branch county.
A survey of damage was conducted in the Coldwater area. The damage found was consistent with a brief tornado touchdown within an area of wind damage around the touchdown location. The circulation touched down near U.S. 12 and Interstate 69, at 364 South Michigan Avenue. Major roof damage to a storage facility occurred, along with substantial tree damage. The garage door on the east side of a house was blown in just south of Woodward Drive. The tornado passed across Interstate 69 depositing debris on portions of the Interstate, causing brief lane closures. The damage was consistent with an EF1 with winds of around 90 mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:29 UTC and running to 21:27 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:29 UTC | 21:27 UTC | Tornado Watch | IWX |
| 17:56 UTC | 22:52 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | IWX |
| 20:07 UTC | 21:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX |
| 01:21 UTC | 02:39 UTC | Flood Warning | IWX |
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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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
8.5 hours before the tornado, 154 km from the path. May 29, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -294 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 499 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 128 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 298 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 2.8 K/km
Detroit, MI (KDTX), 00:00Z
3.5 hours after it, 154 km from the path. May 30, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -81883 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1045 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -103 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -33 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.8 K/km
The surface observations
Coldwater (OEB), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:34 UTC | 75.2 | 69.8 | 160° 3 kt | 1013.9 | ||
| 18:55 UTC | 75.2 | 69.8 | 110° 3 kt | 1013.5 | ||
| 19:14 UTC | 75.2 | 69.8 | 130° 4 kt | 1013.5 | ||
| 19:34 UTC | 75.2 | 69.8 | 1013.5 | |||
| 19:55 UTC | 77 | 71.6 | 220° 3 kt | 1014.6 | ||
| 20:14 UTC | 75.2 | 71.6 | 190° 3 kt | 1014.6 | ||
| 20:34 UTC | 75.2 | 71.6 | 300° 5 kt | 1014.9 | RA | |
| 20:45 UTC | 73.4 | 69.8 | 290° 20 kt | 25 | 1015.6 | +RA |
| 21:03 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 270° 5 kt | 11 | 1016.3 | -RA |
| 21:55 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 360° 5 kt | 8 | 1015.6 | -RA |
| 22:14 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 10° 18 kt | 28 | 1012.9 | -RA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:32 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:10 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | Schoolcraft | Kalamazoo, MI | MEASURED IN DOWNTOWN SCHOOLCRAFT. |
| 20:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Three Rivers | St. Joseph, MI | LARGE TREE DOWN AND ANOTHER TREE SPLIT |
| 20:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Moore Park | St. Joseph, MI | TREES DOWN ON 6 TO 10 HOUSES. UPROOTED TREES AS WELL |
| 20:15 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 4 Sse Kalamazoo | Kalamazoo, MI | PUBLIC REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD JUST NORTH OF KALAMAZOO BATTLE CREEK AIRPORT |
| 20:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 S Vicksburg | Kalamazoo, MI | MULTIPLE TREES DOWN JUST SOUTH OF VICKBURG. SILVER ST. NEAR THE COUNTY LINE IS NEARLY IMPASSABLE. |
| 20:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Nw Three Rivers | St. Joseph, MI | NUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN |
| 20:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 E Vicksburg | Kalamazoo, MI | TREES ARE DOWN EAST OF VICKSBURG WITH SOME IMPACTS TO PROPERTY. REPORT FROM EMERGENCY MANAGER. |
| 20:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 W Fulton | Kalamazoo, MI | SILO...FARM...AND TREE DAMAGE NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF W AVENUE AND 38TH STREET. |
| 20:21 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 E Vicksburg | Kalamazoo, MI | MULTIPLE TREES DOWN. SNAPPED OFF AT THE BASE. REPORTED BY VICKSBURG COOP OBSERVER |
| 20:21 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 E Vicksburg | Kalamazoo, MI | LARGE GRAIN SILO DESTROYED. ROOF TAKEN OFF OF A HOG BARN. |
| 20:23 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sw Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | MULTIPLE LARGE TREES DOWN AND BLOCKING ROADS NEAR COLUMBIA AND 28TH |
| 20:23 UTC | TSTM WND GST 58 | 1 S Portage | Kalamazoo, MI | WIND GUST REPORTED VIA THE PUBLIC IN SOUTH PORTAGE |
| 20:24 UTC | TORNADO | Vicksburg | Kalamazoo, MI | POSSIBLE TORNADO REPORTED IN VICKSBURG NEAR SPRINKLE ROAD. REPORTED AS A FUNNEL CLOUD WHICH MAY HAVE BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN. |
| 20:25 UTC | TSTM WND GST 80 | 2 S Fulton | Kalamazoo, MI | SPOTTER ESTIMATED THE WINDS OF 75-80 MPH JUST NORTH OF THE KALAMAZOO/ST. JOSEPH COUNTY LINE. |
| 20:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wsw Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | TREES ARE BLOCKING I-94 BUSINESS LOOP. LOCATION IS APPROXIMATE. |
| 20:30 UTC | FLOOD | 3 Wnw Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | SEVERAL 8 TO 10 INCH LIMBS DOWN. HUGE OAK TREE BLOWN OVER ON RIVER ROAD. |
| 20:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Coldwater | Branch, MI | NUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN NORTHERN PART OF COUNTY |
| 20:32 UTC | TORNADO | Coldwater | Branch, MI | MULTIPLE REPORTS OF DAMAGE FOR A QUARTER OF A MILE IN THE AREA OF US 12 AND I69 IN COLDWATER. ROOF OFF HOUSE AND POLE BARN. ROOF AND DOORS OFF STORAGE FACILITY. DEBRIS CROSSED I69 INTO WALMART PARKING LOT. NUMEROUS WITNE |
| 20:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sw Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | ESTIMATED AROUND 50 TREES DOWN NEAR THE 100 BLOCK OF SOUTH 30TH STREET IN BATTLE CREEK. |
| 20:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Sw Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | MULTIPLE TREES DOWN IN THE 1700 BLOCK OF WATKINS ROAD NEAR BATTLE CREEK. TREES RANGE FROM 6 INCHES TO 2 FEET IN DIAMETER. |
| 20:35 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | MULTIPLE REPORTS OF ESTIMATE WIND SPEEDS AROUND 60 MPH THROUGHOUT BATTLE CREEK. |
| 20:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sw Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | LAKEVIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL NEAR COLUMBIA AND HELMER SUSTAINED DAMAGE. TREES DOWN AROUND THE AREA AS WELL. |
| 20:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ese Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | 60 MPH ESTIMATED GUST. PEA SIZED HAIL. NUMBER OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. TREES LYING IN THE SAME DIRECTION. |
| 20:44 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Ese Battle Creek | Calhoun, MI | TREES HAVE BEEN UPROOTED. POSSIBLE ROTATION IN THE AREA AT THE PRESENT TIME. |
| 20:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Marshall | Calhoun, MI | 3 LARGE TREES ON TOP OF HOUSE. SPOTTER CURRENTLY BLOCKED IN. |
| 20:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Albion | Calhoun, MI | THREE TREES DOWN ON PINE STREET NEAR EATON. MINOR CAR DAMAGE. |
| 20:53 UTC | TSTM WND GST 64 | 1 Sse Marshall | Calhoun, MI | MEASURED AT BROOKS FIELD IN MARSHALL. |
| 20:54 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 W Springport | Calhoun, MI | TREES DOWN WITH SOME HOUSE DAMAGE AS WELL IN THE VICINITY OF DUCK LAKE. |
| 21:05 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1 | Bellevue | Eaton, MI | ONE INCH OF RAIN FELL IN ABOUT 15 TO 20 MINUTES. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 29, 2011
3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.