Tornadoes · United States · Michigan · 2018
EF1 tornado, Baldwin to Baldwin Muni Arpt, Michigan, August 28, 2018
From Baldwin to Baldwin Muni Arpt, this EF1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Lake County on August 28, 2018, touching down at 7:30 PM EDT and reaching 500 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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 28, 2018
- Touchdown
- 7:30 PM EDT (23:30 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:31 PM EDT (23:31 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
- Path width
- 500 yards (457 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- County
- Lake County
- Touchdown point
- 43.890, -85.830
- Lift-off point
- 43.882, -85.816
- Record number
- 1808281730-01
The damage survey
16 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS GRR, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 93 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
A line of severe thunderstorms impacted lower Michigan during the evening hours of August 28th, 2018. Strong winds of 50 to 60 mph were common along the line with pockets of intense damaging winds of 75 to 90 mph. There were also two tornadoes embedded within the strongest winds near Baldwin and Idlewild. The most extensive damage was along US-10 from Ludington to Reed City, with separate areas of intense damage near Big Rapids and Le Roy.
An EF-0 tornado with estimated max winds of 85 mph caused tree and property damage in the village of Baldwin. A few bulidings had collapsed walls, damage to siding, or loss of roofing material.
An EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 100 mph caused tree and property damage just east of the village of Baldwin near Idlewild. Tree damage was immense with trunks snapped in a narrow zone.
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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:24 UTC and running to 00:48 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22:00 UTC | 06:43 UTC | Flood Watch | GRR |
| 22:24 UTC | 00:48 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | GRR |
| 23:14 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRR |
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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:44 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.
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), 12:00Z
11.5 hours before the tornado, 193 km from the path. August 28, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 41 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -407 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1253 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 152 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.8 K/km
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), 00:00Z
0.5 hours after it, 193 km from the path. August 29, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 101 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -150 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 88 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 840 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -62 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -75 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
The surface observations
Big Rapids (RQB), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:35 UTC | 81.7 | 72.5 | 200° 5 kt | 1012.2 | ||
| 21:55 UTC | 81 | 72.5 | 210° 7 kt | 1011.9 | ||
| 22:15 UTC | 80.6 | 72.3 | 220° 9 kt | 15 | 1012.9 | |
| 22:35 UTC | 80.6 | 72 | 210° 4 kt | 18 | 1012.5 | |
| 22:55 UTC | 80 | 72 | 230° 5 kt | 1012.2 | ||
| 23:15 UTC | 79.3 | 72.5 | 160° 5 kt | 1011.2 | ||
| 23:37 UTC | 79 | 72.7 | 0° 0 kt | 1011.9 | ||
| 23:55 UTC | 76.6 | 68.4 | 320° 22 kt | 48 | 1014.6 | RA |
| 00:15 UTC | 65.5 | 63.7 | 340° 9 kt | 20 | 1013.2 | +RA |
| 00:35 UTC | 66.2 | 64.6 | 330° 4 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |
| 00:55 UTC | 66.2 | 65 | 0° 0 kt | 1012.9 | ||
| 01:15 UTC | 65.8 | 64.8 | 190° 6 kt | 1013.2 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sse Le Roy | Osceola, MI | SEVERAL LARGE TREES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 23:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ne Little Point Sable | Oceana, MI | MULTIPLE TREES DOWNED AROUND THE SILVER LAKE AREA. AN UNKNOWN NUMBER OF BOATS WERE FLIPPED ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE LAKE. RELAYED VIA BROADCAST MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 23:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Pentwater | Oceana, MI | SCATTERED TREE LIMBS DOWN ACROSS PENTWATER DUE TO STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS. THERE WAS NO DISTINCT PATTERN TO THE WIND DAMAGE. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 23:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Silver Lake | Oceana, MI | AT LEAST THREE LOCATIONS WHERE TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED ON THE EAST SIDE OF SILVER LAKE. VIA MPING. |
| 23:00 UTC | TSTM WND GST 80 | 4 N Ludington | Mason, MI | NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM FOUND A ~20 MILE SWATH OF 70 - 80 MPH WINDS WHICH CAUSED EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE. THE DAMAGE STARTED AT TAMARACK PARK AND CONTINUED SOUTHEAST TO LONG LAKE AND EMERSON. POWER POLES WERE DESTROYED ALONG |
| 23:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ese Walhalla | Mason, MI | TREES DOWN ON STRUCTURES AROUND BRANCH TOWNSHIP. US-10 PARTIALLY BLOCKED. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 23:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ene Custer | Mason, MI | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. SOME DAMAGE TO BARNS AND HOUSES. |
| 23:15 UTC | TSTM WND GST 51 | Mason Co Apt | Mason, MI | AWOS STATION LDM, MASON CO APT. |
| 23:27 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Wnw Baldwin | Lake, MI | AN EF-0 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED MAX WINDS OF 85 MPH CAUSED TREE AND PROPERTY DAMAGE IN THE VILLAGE OF BALDWIN. PATH LENGTH AROUND 1 MILE. MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH AROUND 500 YARDS. A SECOND TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN LAKE COUNTY A |
| 23:28 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 2 Nw Baldwin | Lake, MI | NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMS 60 TO 70 MPH WINDS DOWNED MULTIPLE TREE BRANCHES PRIOR TO THE EF0 TORNADO IN BALDWIN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 23:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 S Meauwataka | Wexford, MI | REPORTS OF NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. |
| 23:30 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Se Baldwin | Lake, MI | AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED MAX WINDS OF 100 MPH CAUSED TREE AND PROPERTY DAMAGE JUST EAST OF THE VILLAGE OF BALDWIN NEAR IDLEWILD. PATH LENGTH AROUND 1 MILE. MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH OF AROUND 500 YARDS. THIS TORNADO WAS T |
| 23:34 UTC | TSTM WND GST 45 | 6 Ene Dublin | Wexford, MI | MESONET STATION MC047, 6 ENE DUBLIN. |
| 23:34 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ne Bitely | Newaygo, MI | NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN LILLEY TWP. SOME ROADS INACCESSIBLE. |
| 23:38 UTC | TSTM WND GST 54 | 1 S Baldwin | Lake, MI | MESONET STATION BDWM4, 1 S BALDWIN. |
| 23:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Wsw Cadillac | Wexford, MI | MULTIPLE TREES DAMAGED, SOME BLOWN ACROSS ROAD. |
| 23:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nnw Scottville | Mason, MI | TREES AND POWER LINES REPORTED DOWN FROM THE LUDINGTON, SCOTTVILLE, CUSTER, AND FOUNTAIN AREAS. |
| 23:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Reed City | Osceola, MI | MULTIPLE TREES REPORTED DOWN ACROSS REED CITY. |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sw Woodville | Newaygo, MI | MULTIPLE TREES DOWN. |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND GST 75 | 4 Wsw Woodville | Newaygo, MI | NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMS AN AREA OF TREE DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH UP TO 75 MPH WIND GUSTS SOUTHEAST OF BROHMAN ALONG 6 MILE ROAD NEAR EVERGREEN DRIVE EXTENDING TO SPRUCE AVENUE. SPOTTY AND MUCH LESS INTENSE DAMAGE CONTINU |
| 23:48 UTC | TSTM WND GST 80 | 3 Sse Le Roy | Osceola, MI | NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED A SMALL SWATH OF INTENSE WIND DAMAGE OCCURRED AROUND WELLS LAKE. DAMAGE ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE LAKE WAS IMMENSE WITH A NARROW SWATH OF NEARLY ALL TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. WEST OF THE LAKE, D |
| 23:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Wnw Stanwood | Mecosta, MI | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 23:49 UTC | TSTM WND GST 80 | Big Rapids | Mecosta, MI | DAMAGE FROM THUNDERSTORM WINDS ESTIMATED AT 75-90 MPH STRETCHED FROM PARIS TO BIG RAPIDS TO STANWOOD. NUMEROUS DOWNED TREES AND DAMAGE TO PROPERTY FROM FALLING TREES, WITH WORST DAMAGE CONCENTRATED IN PARIS AND STANWOOD. |
| 23:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mcbain | Missaukee, MI | CORRECTED DATE OF EVENT. BARN HEAVILY DAMAGED BY TWO FALLING CONCRETE SILOS. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Cadillac - Wexford Coun | Wexford, MI | AWOS STATION CAD, CADILLAC - WEXFORD COUNT ARPT. |
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND GST 47 | Cadillac - Wexford Coun | Wexford, MI | CORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM CADILLAC - WEXFORD COUNT ARPT. AWOS STATION CAD, CADILLAC - WEXFORD COUNT ARPT TO THUNDERSTORM WIND GUST. |
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND GST 55 | Big Rapids Roben-Hood A | Mecosta, MI | AWOS STATION RQB, BIG RAPIDS ROBEN-HOOD ARPT. |
| 23:59 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.67 | Wellston | Manistee, MI | MESONET STATION WLLM4, WELLSTON. THE DURATION OF THE HEAVY RAIN EVENT WAS 24 HOURS. |
| 00:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 E Avondale | Osceola, MI | TREES DOWN BLOCKING ROADS. |
| 00:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Paris | Mecosta, MI | NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN THE AREA, SOME BLOCKING ROADS. TREES CRUSHED A FEW CAMPER TRAILERS. |
| 00:07 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.41 | Wellston | Manistee, MI | MESONET STATION E0269, WELLSTON. THE DURATION OF THE HEAVY RAIN EVENT WAS 24 HOURS. |
| 00:15 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.87 | 1 Ssw Manistee | Manistee, MI | MESONET STATION D9113, 1 SSW MANISTEE. THE DURATION OF THE HEAVY RAIN EVENT WAS 24 HOURS. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of August 28, 2018
25 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 28 | 3:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Marquette, WI | 0.7 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 3:03 PM CDT | EF1 | Marquette, WI | 1.8 | 75 | |||
| August 28 | 3:17 PM CDT | EF1 | Green Lake, WI | 3.1 | 90 | |||
| August 28 | 3:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Green Lake, WI | 2.1 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 3:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.6 | 175 | |||
| August 28 | 4:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.6 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 4:04 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.4 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:08 PM CDT | EF0 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 4:09 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.9 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:11 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.1 | 80 | |||
| August 28 | 4:11 PM CDT | EF2 | Fond du Lac, WI | 3.9 | 150 | $169,000 | ||
| August 28 | 4:12 PM CDT | EF1 | Dodge, WI | 2.7 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 2.8 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:22 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.5 | 90 | |||
| August 28 | 4:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.0 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.0 | 80 | |||
| August 28 | 4:33 PM CDT | EF1 | Calumet, WI | 1.0 | 75 | $75,000 | ||
| August 28 | 4:36 PM CDT | EF1 | Sheboygan, WI | 5.3 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:57 PM CDT | EF0 | Sheboygan, WI | 0.3 | 75 | |||
| August 28 | 7:27 PM EDT | EF0 | Lake, MI | 1.1 | 500 | $100,000 | ||
| August 28 | 7:49 PM EDT | EF0 | Antrim, MI | 6.6 | 70 | $80,000 | ||
| August 28 | 7:09 PM CDT | EF0 | Scott, IA | 4.1 | 25 | |||
| August 28 | 8:53 PM EDT | EF1 | Ogemaw, MI | 0.2 | 40 | $65,000 | ||
| August 28 | 8:58 PM EDT | EF0 | Arenac, MI | 0.4 | 40 | $45,000 | ||
| August 28 | 9:14 PM EDT | EF1 | Arenac, MI | 0.9 | 50 | $70,000 |
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.