8/8/24 - It Was A Tornado That Touched Down In SW Michigan This Week

An EF2 tornado touched down not far from Three Rivers on Tuesday morning.

-The National Weather Service office in Northern Indiana confirmed a tornado from near Lewis Lake southeast to the north side of Three Rivers in northwest St. Joseph County, Michigan.

On Thursday, Aug. 8, they upgraded the designation of the tornado from an EF-1 to an EF-2.

The National Weather Service has released the following updated information about the twister:

During the morning of Aug. 6, a supercell developed and tracked east-southeast through southern Michigan, far northeast Indiana and far northwest Ohio. This storm produced an EF2 tornado in northwest St. Joseph county from Lewis Lake to the north side of Three Rivers.

A tornado touched down Tuesday morning at the county line border, just north of Lewis Lake. The tornado did significant tree damage and snapped power poles along the entirety of Berry Ln.

The tornado moved southeast towards Day Rd where it reached maximum width of approximately 700 yards. Here, a well anchored manufactured home was slid approximately 5 feet off its foundation, along with significant tree damage.

Near the intersection of Bent Rd. and Floating Bridge Rd. the tornado completely destroyed a barn. Farther east on Floating Bridge Rd., the tornado removed a two-story barn roof completely off and moved it about 30 feet away.

The tornado reached maximum intensity of EF-2 along Floating Bridge Rd. Another barn roof received major roof damage, the residence’s roof was partially removed, and significant tree damage was also observed. The tornado continued southeast crossing Mount Zion Rd with major tree damage and center pivots being overturned.

Near Pulver and Null Rd., 8 power poles were snapped, an irrigation pivot was twisted, and minor/moderate roof damage was observed to three homes.

Farther southeast along Cowling Rd, a well constructed shed was moved 20-30ft away from its foundation and part of the structure was thrown into the Rocky River.

Finally, the tornado caused minor roof damage to a warehouse along N. Main St in Three Rivers.

While a portion of the roof was thrown into the trees across the street, it is believed this is where the tornado terminated.