Tornadoes · United States · Michigan · 2015

EF1 tornado, Deford to Deckerville Nauman A, Michigan, June 22, 2015

From Deford to Deckerville Nauman A, this EF1 tornado ran 22.9 miles across Tuscola and Sanilac counties on June 22, 2015, touching down at 10:07 PM EDT and reaching 250 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $501,000 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
June 22, 2015
Touchdown
10:07 PM EDT (02:07 UTC)
Lifted
10:44 PM EDT (02:44 UTC)
On the ground
37 minutes
Path length
22.9 miles (36.9 km)
Path width
250 yards (229 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$501,000
Counties
Tuscola and Sanilac counties
Touchdown point
43.503, -83.131
Lift-off point
43.499, -82.673
Record number
1506222007-01

The damage survey

10 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DTX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

Two rounds of severe thunderstorms impacted southeast Michigan. First round occurred during the afternoon hours, with the stronger second round occurring around and just after Midnight, spawning four tornadoes.

A tornado touched briefly down in Tuscola county, then tracked mostly in a west to east direction parallel to and just south of Deckerville road in Sanilac County. Most damage along the path was rated EF0 intensity and below 85 mph, bringing down trees and power lines. However, a pocket of EF1 damage occurred with maximum intensity around 110 mph on the north side of Decker, extending west toward the Tuscola Border. Major damage occurred to Devor Dairy Farm. The total path length of the tornado came in close to 23 miles, with just 1 mile of the path length occurring in Tuscola County.

A tornado touched briefly down in Tuscola county, then tracked mostly in a west to east direction parallel to and just south of Deckerville road in Sanilac County. Most damage along the path was rated EF0 intensity and below 85 mph, bringing down trees and power lines. However, a pocket of EF1 damage occurred with maximum intensity around 110 mph on the north side of Decker, extending west toward the Tuscola Border. Major damage occurred to Devor Dairy Farm. The total path length of the tornado came in close to 23 miles, with just 1 mile of the path length occurring in Tuscola County.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

23 minutes of warning. NWS DTX issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:44 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:17 UTC and running to 04:07 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:25 UTC21:12 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchDTX
01:06 UTC02:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTX
01:17 UTC04:07 UTCTornado WatchDTX
01:44 UTC02:30 UTCTornado WarningDTX
02:30 UTC02:41 UTCTornado WarningDTX

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. 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 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), 00:00Z

2.1 hours before the tornado, 97 km from the path. June 23, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2015-06-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2155 joules per kilogram, CIN -42, lifted condensation level 783 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2015-06-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 461 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 70 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2155 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-42 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2966 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
783 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
461 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
798 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
7.6
Supercell composite
31.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 12:00Z

9.9 hours after it, 97 km from the path. June 23, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2015-06-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -80164, lifted condensation level 936 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2015-06-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -117 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80164 J/kg
Surface CAPE
19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
936 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-117 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-70 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:08 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
01:58 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 E Birch RunSaginaw, MINUMEROUS TREES REPORTED DOWNED
02:03 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 S TuscolaTuscola, MIHOUSE DESTROYED ON BRAY ROAD
02:08 UTCTORNADO5 Nnw DeckerSanilac, MITOUCHDOWN CONFIRMED BY SHERRIF DEPARTMENT ON M-53 AND DECKERVILLE
02:22 UTCTORNADO5 Wsw MillingtonTuscola, MIHOUSE DESTROYED
02:23 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.55LapeerLapeer, MI
02:34 UTCTORNADONe DeckervilleSanilac, MI
02:42 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 E ColumbiavilleLapeer, MI

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 22, 2015

26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 222:26 AM CDTEF1Mahnomen, MN0.230
June 226:50 AM CDTEF0Nicollet, MN2.850
June 228:21 AM CDTEF1Fayette, IA1.5502$100,000
June 228:50 AM CDTEF0Crawford, WI1.335$10,000
June 229:06 AM CDTEF0Crawford, WI7.460$34,000
June 222:30 PM EDTEF1Ionia, MI4.61005$3.2 million
June 225:05 PM CDTEF3Marion, IA11.1575$150,000
June 225:50 PM CDTEF2Monroe, IA1.7290$125,000
June 227:14 PM EDTEF0Charlotte, FL0.615
June 227:08 PM CDTEF0Gray, KS0.650
June 227:14 PM CDTEF1Whiteside, IL2.275
June 227:15 PM CDTEF2Rock Island, IL4.2440
June 227:16 PM CDTEF0Whiteside, IL2.650
June 227:16 PM CDTEF1Whiteside, IL1.750
June 227:28 PM CDTEF1Lee, IL7.450
June 227:53 PM CDTEF2Lee, IL7.88807$1.0 million
June 228:19 PM CDTEF1LaSalle, IL1.5150$100,000
June 228:50 PM CDTEF1LaSalle, IL6.0150$100,000
June 2210:00 PM EDTEF2Saginaw, MI11.32502$600,000
June 229:17 PM CDTEF1Grundy, IL7.0150$50,000
June 229:43 PM CDTEF1Grundy, IL0.8100$50,000
June 229:45 PM CDTEF3Grundy, IL16.31,3207$25 million
June 2210:08 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL2.2300
June 2211:55 PM EDTEF0Saint Clair, MI0.650$10,000
June 2211:46 PM CDTEF0Kankakee, IL1.050
June 221:31 AM EDTEF1Washtenaw, MI4.3100$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.