EF1 tornado, Grand Rapids South K to East Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 6, 2014

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

July 6, 2014

Touchdown

10:20 PM EDT (02:20 UTC)

Lifted

10:30 PM EDT (02:30 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

6.3 miles (10.1 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

6

Property damage

$4.5 million

County

Kent County

Touchdown point

42.850, -85.700

Lift-off point

42.912, -85.608

Record number

1407062020-01

An EF1 tornado struck southern Kent county during the late evening hours of July 6th, resulting in widespread damage including numerous downed trees, power lines, and damage to numerous homes and other structures. There were 6 injuries but no fatalities. Wind speeds with this tornado reached at least 110 mph. There were three additional tornadoes late that evening and overnight which were all EF0.

An NWS storm survey determined that an EF1 tornado developed rapidly near 64th Street and Burlingame Avenue in Byron Center and tracked northeast for 6.25 miles through Wyoming and Kentwood. The tornado, on the ground for about 10 minutes, produced significant damage with estimated wind speeds up to at least 110 mph. Numerous trees, structures, and power lines were downed or damaged along a damage path 300-400 yards wide across southern Kent County. There were six injuries and no fatalities. Sunday night's tornado was the first EF-1 in Kent County since May 21, 2001.

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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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 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.

Grand Rapids (GRR), 11 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), 9 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:18 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 2014 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

15 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.