EF1 tornado, East Gilead to Bethel, Michigan, April 2, 2025

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

April 2, 2025

Touchdown

8:49 PM EDT (00:49 UTC)

Lifted

8:52 PM EDT (00:52 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

3.7 miles (6.0 km)

Path width

125 yards (114 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$50,000

County

Branch County

Touchdown point

41.785, -85.115

Lift-off point

41.833, -85.082

Record number

2504021849-01

24 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS IWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

• Old structure on stone blocks collapsed.
• Snapped a small communication pole. Debris noted towards the N. Multiple trees uprooted or snapped.
• Some plastering observed on N and E facing walls. EMA noted south section of building's shingle and sheathing came off exposing apartment.
• Trees snapped and uprooted visible across field. Debris scattered north

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

The atmosphere was primed for severe weather during the afternoon and evening hours of April 2nd. 0-1 km SRH values of 300 to 500 m2/s2, 60 to 70 kts of shear and MLCAPE of around 1000 J/KG set the stage for numerous thunderstorms. Damage reports were not as widespread, but those that occurred tended to be in swaths related to cold pools from bowing segments or tornadoes. Eight tornadoes (three in northern Indiana, one which crossed from Indiana into Lower Michigan, one in lower Michigan and three in northwestern Ohio). A total of five injuries were reported (three in NW Ohio and two in N Indiana).

Damage survey from the National Weather Service along with Steuben County EMA found damage consistent with a tornado that touched down on the south side of Orland, IN. The tornado destroyed an old, small barn on the south side, before uprooting and snapping several trees and a communications pole in east Orland. The tornado damaged the roof of an apartment building, including ripping up the wood sheathing on the south end of the building. Non-conclusive, likely rear flank downdraft winds severely damaged a large barn at N 900 W and W State Rd 120 and a set of trees just off to the east. Across the street, a dozen or so trees were uprooted or snapped in a cemetery. Tree damage was also noted in the adjacent tree line. The tornado reached max width at the border of IN/MI where a large swath of significant tree damage occurred to a piece of property owned by the Indiana Toll Road. A semi-truck was reported to be blown over on the Toll Rd. The tornado crossed into Michigan with intermittent light structural and tree damage occurring near East Gilead and extending northeastward. The tornado reached maximum intensity of 105 mph (EF-1) when it struck a farm on E Pearl Road, tearing roofs off large silos, destroying a section of barn, driving 2x4 into the nearby home, and destroying another out building to the west.

Within the same parent cell as the Orland tornado, a NWS survey found a secondary tornado occurred in Branch County Michigan. Tree damage was first noted between W Southern Rd and Booth Rd. The tornado traveled northeast and then northerly, causing damage to multiple Amish buildings, many of which had already been repaired and debris cleaned up. Minor roof damage was noted to a barn on Cranson Rd. The tornado caused the most significant damage on W Pearl Rd west of Bethel where numerous large healthy trees were snapped or uprooted. Damage was also noted to a home, but repairs were completed prior to the survey. Maximum wind speeds were estimated at up to 100 mph based on the tree and limited structure damage that could be assessed.

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:57 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.

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:46 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 2025 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

87 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 88 of them

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.