Tornadoes · United States · Michigan · 2025

EF0 tornado, Fraser to Cady, Michigan, June 18, 2025

From Fraser to Cady, this EF0 tornado ran 2.4 miles across Macomb County on June 18, 2025, touching down at 5:02 PM EDT and reaching 400 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 18, 2025
Touchdown
5:02 PM EDT (21:02 UTC)
Lifted
5:10 PM EDT (21:10 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
2.4 miles (3.8 km)
Path width
400 yards (366 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Macomb County
Touchdown point
42.534, -82.948
Lift-off point
42.567, -82.937
Record number
2506181502-01

The damage survey

15 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DTX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 70 mph.

  • Numerous downed power lines and trees in the neighborhood.
  • Video of tornado and debris.
  • Tree was uprooted and fell south.
  • Numerous large limbs down along Blairmoor Drive.

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

Multiple rounds of thunderstorms impacted portions of Southeast Michigan on June 18, 2025. The first round consisted of sub-severe pop-up thunderstorms during the morning hours. These produced pockets of heavy downpours but otherwise brought some relief to areas that had seen relatively dry conditions in recent days. Showers expanded in coverage across the southern part of the state by late morning to early afternoon as a disturbance aloft ushered in a more organized cluster of thunderstorms. These were also sub-severe, but the presence of environmental vorticity caused a weak tornado to quickly develop as several outflow boundaries collided near Fraser in Macomb County. These storms also produced torrential downpours. Nearly stationary storms dumped 3 to 5 inches of rain over a localized area in central Macomb County where flash flooding occurred early in the afternoon, closing roads and leading to several water rescues. A lull in activity occurred during the mid afternoon before a third round of thunderstorms arrived in the evening as a low pressure system approached from Indiana. This line of storms caused isolated occurrences of wind damage across southern parts of the state.

The tornado started north of Masonic and east of Utica Road and Garfield Road, in the vicinity of General Street. The tornado moved north crossing 14 Mile Road and affected about 15 to 20 homes, with shingles blown off their roofs. The most concentrated damage was in this neighborhood, with a lot of tree damage as well. The most |significant structural damage that was noted was 1 house losing a section of its roof. The tornado continued to move north crossing 15 Mile Road causing additional tree|damage before dissipating just south of the Metro Parkway. Estimated peak winds of 70 MPH with the tornado.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:12 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:12 UTC17:22 UTCTornado WarningDTX
17:26 UTC20:17 UTCFlood AdvisoryDTX
17:42 UTC20:18 UTCFlash Flood WarningDTX
20:12 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchDTX

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 19:55 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), 12:00Z

9.0 hours before the tornado, 44 km from the path. June 18, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2025-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 765 joules per kilogram, CIN -46, lifted condensation level 905 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 12:00Z on 2025-06-18The 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 24 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 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
765 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Surface CAPE
589 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
905 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Detroit, MI (KDTX), 00:00Z

3.0 hours after it, 44 km from the path. June 19, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2025-06-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 447 joules per kilogram, CIN -43, lifted condensation level 934 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 2025-06-19The 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 32 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.193958Sfc1 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
447 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1428 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
934 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:00 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
18:06 UTCFLASH FLOOD2 Nw Clinton TownshipMacomb, MISocial media photo of vehicles in wheel well deep water on Garfield Rd near 19 Mile Rd.
18:15 UTCFLOOD1 Ne ChesterfieldMacomb, MIGratiot Rd impassable at 23 Mile Rd due to flooding.
18:28 UTCRAIN 2.841 Sw WaldenburgMacomb, MI4.5 hour rainfall total. Street flooding reported in the surrounding area.
19:47 UTCRAIN 3.71Macomb TownshipMacomb, MI3 Hour Rainfall Total with 3.61 inches between 1210 and 150 PM.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in MichiganEvery tornado in Michigan since 1950Warnings in force in Michigan nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 18, 2025

29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 181:04 AM CDTEF1Cherokee, OK7.71,000$50,000
June 181:14 AM CDTEF1Adair, OK8.8750$100,000
June 181:20 AM CDTEF1Benton, AR3.2800
June 181:29 AM CDTEF1Benton, AR1.7300$500,000
June 181:54 AM CDTEF1Washington, AR2.3300$25,000
June 1810:55 AM CDTEF1Calhoun, MO to IL3.6100
June 1811:30 AM CDTUnratedScott, IL1.510
June 1811:53 AM CDTEF0Morgan, IL4.780
June 1811:54 AM CDTEF1Scott, IL1.050
June 1812:02 PM CDTEF1Morgan, IL3.975
June 1812:07 PM CDTEF2Morgan, IL6.9300
June 1812:15 PM CDTEF1Morgan, IL7.6501
June 1812:25 PM CDTEF1Sangamon, IL7.4200
June 1812:29 PM CDTUnratedCass, IL1.410
June 1812:37 PM CDTUnratedMenard, IL3.010
June 1812:41 PM CDTEF1Menard, IL1.4200
June 182:15 PM EDTEF0Anne Arundel, MD0.175$250,000
June 181:18 PM CDTEF0Mason, IL0.1100
June 181:50 PM CDTEF1DeWitt, IL3.5100
June 181:56 PM CDTUnratedTazewell, IL0.250
June 183:02 PM EDTEF0Tippecanoe, IN0.630$20,000
June 183:10 PM EDTEF0Tippecanoe, IN0.320$25,000
June 182:13 PM CDTUnratedMcLean, IL0.130
June 186:10 PM CDTUnratedJackson, OK1.020
June 187:44 PM EDTEF0Ottawa, OH0.510$85,000
June 187:50 PM EDTEF0Ottawa, OH2.910$49,000
June 188:26 PM EDTEF1Huron, OH9.3200$40,000
June 188:37 PM CDTEF0Hickman, TN6.9175$250,000
June 188:37 PM CDTEF0Macon, TN4.3300$250,000

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.