LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Governor Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency for Branch, Cass, and St. Joseph counties as a result of the four tornadoes that hit the area Friday afternoon.
The strongest was an EF-3 tornado that blasted Union City, killing three people there and was the deadliest twister to hit Michigan since 1980 when one hit downtown Kalamazoo. The first was an EF-1 tornado that hit Edwardsburg and killed a 12-year-old boy.
An EF-2 tornado hit Three Rivers, destroying the Menards store there. The last was an EF-0 tornado that hit Clarendon Township in Calhoun County.
Three Rivers Community Schools and Union City Community Schools are both closed Monday.
The Friday tornado in Union City will go down as one of the strongest March tornadoes in Michigan weather history.
As of Sunday night, the National Weather Service was still assessing the tornado’s starting and ending points. The rating and peak wind estimates remain preliminary and could be updated when the final survey results are released later this week.
The National Weather Service says the EF3 tornado officially touched down between 4:35–4:42 p.m. with maximum wind speed 160 mph and was on the ground for approximately 3.7 miles with a width of 500 yards.
At approximately 4:35 p.m., a tornado touched down on the northwest side of Union Lake in northern Branch County and quickly intensified as it tracked along the shoreline.
Videos showed a multiple-vortex tornado at its peak near Prairie Rose Lane and Tuttle Road, where homes and cottages were destroyed and debris was scattered or lofted to the northeast, ice was even observed being lifted off the lake.
The storm weakened as it moved northeast, causing additional damage in Union City before lifting near the Calhoun-Branch county line at approximately 4:42 p.m.
The Union City tornado is the first EF3 or stronger tornado to strike Michigan since an EF3 hit Gaylord on May 20, 2022, and the earliest EF3 or stronger tornado in a calendar year since reliable records began in 1950.
(additional reporting from Michael Arney and Brett Briscoe)
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