Possible Tornado Damages Michigan Campground
UPDATE: The NWS has declared an EF-1 tornado in Clyde Township [PDF].
The National Weather Service is investigating today whether or not a tornado hit the Fort Trodd Campground in Clyde Township, tossing RVs into a lake, killing one person and injuring four Sunday afternoon. A Tornado Warning was not issued, in fact the county was not even under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning at the time.
PHOTO CAPTION: Overturned trailers are shown at the Fort Trodd Family Campground in Clyde Township, Mich., Monday, June 28, 2010. A severe storm that left one person dead and four others injured at an eastern Michigan campground developed so quickly that authorities had little chance to warn those in its path, a National Weather Service official said Monday. The storm moved through the campground shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, overturning trailers and scattering furniture, bikes and debris. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The radar image below shows the storm overtaking the area (the campground is located approximately at the "X"):
A Detroit News article about the tornado quotes a NWS meteorologist:
The "significant weather advisory" is actually called a Special Weather Statement by NWS nomenclature (copy of actual statement here), the same case as the New York wind damage I described earlier this month in a blog entry entitled "How Being Mindful of the Weather Can Save Your Life", again proof that carrying a cell phone with you which is capable of monitoring these statements (which TV & NOAA WeatherRadio will miss) is a must.
We have an aerial video below showing the damage and CNN has a video from the ground).
You can see all storm spotter reports and warnings (red=tornado) on the maps below. The Detroit NWS has photos of a different tornado to the south in Willow, MI on their website, but has not yet submitted a storm survey for the Clyde Township storm.
