Saturday was a busy day weather-wise, with torrential rain and severe weather in the forecast. All counties within our DMA in the Lower Peninsula were under a flood watch, and our Central Lower counties were forecasted at a level two risk for severe weather by the SPC.
As heavy rain and storms were making there way through in the afternoon a “storm” popped up embedded within some heavy rain fall in Clare County. At first this system initiated a severe thunderstorm warning for Clare County around 3:00pm. This warning was put out because the “showers” over the area were showing signs of rotation despite the lack of thunder and lightning.
As this system continued its track East into Gladwin county, it showed signs of enhanced rotation. This prompted a tornado warning for Gladwin county that would be in effect until 4:30pm.
The storm continued its path into Northern Gladwin county where radar indicated rotation was continuing to strengthen, prompting another tornado warning to be issued until 5:00pm. By the time the storm had made it to Northeastern Gladwin county just South of Edwards, signs of rotation were at their strongest. It was assumed that a tornado was on the ground, but there had been no confirmed sightings. This is likely due to the fact that the tornado was wrapped in rain and hail, so people on the ground would not have been able to see it coming.
This storm fizzled out and rotation fell apart once it made its way over I-75 just west of Alger. No confirmation was made day of due to the fact that this storm occurred in the late afternoon, NWS would not have enough time to send a team down to conduct a survey. Confirmation came Sunday June 23rd 2024 when a team was finally able to go down and survey the damage.
NWS confirmed that there was a tornado which earned a rating of EF-1, reached maximum wind speeds of 90mph, and had a path length of about 10 miles. The tornado touched down in the Lake Lancer area and ended near the East branch of the Tittabawassee River. It was on the ground for 22 minutes and caused some minor home damage, but mostly damage to trees as it moved through.
Below is a map of the path of the tornado provided by NWS Gaylord