Tornadoes · United States · Michigan · 2021

EF0 tornado, Roscommon Cnsrvtn Ar to Higgins Lake Lake, Michigan, June 9, 2021

From Roscommon Cnsrvtn Ar to Higgins Lake Lake, this EF0 tornado ran 1.1 miles across Roscommon County on June 9, 2021, touching down at 3:33 PM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 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 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    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
EF0
Date
June 9, 2021
Touchdown
3:33 PM EDT (19:33 UTC)
Lifted
3:35 PM EDT (19:35 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
1.1 miles (1.7 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
Roscommon County
Touchdown point
44.470, -84.630
Lift-off point
44.470, -84.650
Record number
2106091333-01

The damage survey

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS APX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 65 mph.

  • Eye witness described counter clockwise rotation and debris .

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 cluster of storms moved east to west across northern Michigan in the afternoon, producing penny-sized hail and damaging wind gusts, and a brief EF-0 tornado that touched down in Roscommon county. Numerous trees and limbs were snapped off from the tornado with no injuries/fatalities.

Numerous trees and large limbs were snapped. Eyewitness reported seeing a counter clockwise circulation and debris.

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.

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 16:34 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.

Alpena, MI (KAPX), 12:00Z

7.6 hours before the tornado, 189 km from the path. June 9, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Alpena, MI at 12:00Z on 2021-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 954 joules per kilogram, CIN -66, lifted condensation level 878 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, Alpena, MI at 12:00Z on 2021-06-09The 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 -11 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 6 knots.1939Sfc1 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
954 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Surface CAPE
251 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
878 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Alpena, MI (KAPX), 00:00Z

4.4 hours after it, 189 km from the path. June 10, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Alpena, MI at 00:00Z on 2021-06-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 41 joules per kilogram, CIN -146, lifted condensation level 1212 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, Alpena, MI at 00:00Z on 2021-06-10The 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 7 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 14 knots.1939Sfc1 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
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-146 J/kg
Surface CAPE
250 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1212 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Houghton Lake (HTL), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:35 UTC110° 4 kt1019.3
17:40 UTC100° 7 kt1019.3
17:45 UTC90° 5 kt1019
17:50 UTC80° 9 kt1019
17:53 UTC8864130° 5 kt1019
17:55 UTC100° 4 kt1019
18:00 UTC100° 5 kt1019
18:05 UTC110° 7 kt1019
18:10 UTC120° 5 kt1019
18:15 UTC 1019
18:20 UTC80° 7 kt1019
18:25 UTC110° 5 kt1019
18:30 UTC100° 10 kt151018.6
18:35 UTC120° 8 kt1018.6
18:40 UTC100° 10 kt1018.6
18:45 UTC130° 5 kt1018.6
18:53 UTC8863120° 5 kt1018.6
18:55 UTC160° 5 kt1018.3
19:00 UTC130° 10 kt1018.3
19:05 UTC130° 7 kt1018.3
19:10 UTC 1018.3
19:15 UTC150° 8 kt1018.3
19:20 UTC 10 kt1018.3
19:25 UTC160° 7 kt1018.3
19:30 UTC130° 9 kt1018.3
19:35 UTC120° 7 kt1018.3
19:40 UTC120° 10 kt1018.3
19:41 UTC8865120° 10 kt1018.3VCTS
19:45 UTC120° 7 kt1018.3
19:50 UTC70° 11 kt1018.6
19:53 UTC856410° 12 kt211018.6VCTS
19:55 UTC 11 kt1018.6
20:00 UTC 14 kt221018.6
20:05 UTC360° 11 kt1018.3
20:08 UTC786420° 10 kt221018.3VCTS
20:10 UTC20° 10 kt1018.3
20:15 UTC 11 kt1018.6
20:20 UTC20° 10 kt171018.6
20:25 UTC 11 kt1018.6
20:30 UTC 10 kt1019
20:35 UTC 11 kt161019
20:40 UTC 11 kt1018.6
20:45 UTC796760° 11 kt1018.6
20:45 UTC60° 11 kt1018.6
20:50 UTC70° 10 kt1018.6
20:53 UTC806780° 10 kt1018.6
20:55 UTC80° 9 kt1018.6
21:00 UTC80° 11 kt1018.3
21:05 UTC90° 13 kt181018.3
21:10 UTC90° 11 kt161018.3
21:15 UTC80° 8 kt1018.3
21:25 UTC90° 9 kt1018.3
21:30 UTC90° 9 kt1018.3

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The NCL Michigan radar (KAPX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:34 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
19:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Sw RoscommonRoscommon, MISEVERAL TREES DOWNED. POSSIBLE TORNADO.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 9, 2021

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 97:02 PM CDTUnratedLonoke, AR0.450
June 98:05 PM CDTEF0Lonoke, AR0.320

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.