06-05-2025
The other tornadoes that hit Southwest Michigan on May 7, 2024
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Outside of the devastation brought to the Portage area by an EF2 tornado on May 7, 2024, three additional tornadoes spun up farther south.
The first tornado of the evening touched down at 5:11 pm just north of the Dowagiac Municipal Airport, moving northeast and uprooting several trees and causing damage to homes along its path.
Courtesy NWS Northern Indiana.
The historic nature of the May 7, 2024, tornado outbreak
A power pole was snapped and a few center pivots were flipped in a field next to the Amtrak railroad near the intersection of Gage Street and Atwood Road. The tornado reached its maximum width near Twin Lakes, where hundreds of trees snapped. The tornado dissipated as it reached the Cass-Van Buren county line.
Another tornado nearly matched the strength of the Portage tornado: An EF2 touched down in St. Joseph County at 5:41 p.m. on the south side of Centreville tracing northeast past Colon into Branch county near Goodrich Lake. The greatest damage related to this tornado occurred north of Colon to north of Sherwood.
Roof lifted off home on Goodrich Lake Road. (NWS Northern Indiana)
Roof damage near Dane Lake. (NWS Northern Indiana)
Homes within the path lost their roof and walls as estimated winds peaked at 130 mph. This was a multivortex tornado as it reached its maximum intensity.
A brief, weaker tornado spun off from the EF2 tornado as it slid past Sherwood. This EF1 tornado with winds up to 95 mph touched down along W. Girard Road between Babcock and Arbogast roads, destroying a machine shed and ripping out some of the anchor posts. This tornado was only on the ground for a couple minutes with a path length just over 1 mile.
Weathering West Michigan: Portage Pride
Following the outbreak of severe weather in May, Southwest Michigan did not see another tornado touchdown until August.
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