Tornadoes confirmed near Norway
By LISA M. HOFFMANN, Staff WriterIRON MOUNTAIN - The National Weather Service in Marquette has confirmed there were two tornadoes that touched down in Dickinson County during Tuesday's night storm.
Matt Zika, warning coordination meteorologist of the National Weather Service Marquette, said the two tornadoes came out of the same thunderstorm that occurred on Tuesday. Both had maximum wind speeds of 70 mph.
Tornado warnings were issued for Dickinson County during the storm.
The first tornado touched down on the eastern side of Norway near Seventh Avenue at 8:34 p.m.
"It kind of tracked east-northeast and was on the ground one-third of a mile," he said. "There was structural damage with some tree limbs that fell on houses causing damage and some trampolines blown around."
Homeowners on Seventh Avenue in Norway lost a shed during the storm. It was picked up by the storm and taken away. Someone thought they spotted the mangled shed off U.S. 2.
The tornado crossed U.S. 2 as it moved east northeastward towards Norway Mountain. The tornado had an average width of about 100 yards. The maximum wind speeds were estimated at 70 mph.
The second tornado touched down around 8:40 p.m. in a wooded area about one mile northeast of Vulcan. This tornado was on the ground for about a quarter mile and had a width of less than 100 yards.
Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped off from this tornado. The maximum wind speeds were estimated were estimated at 70 mph.
Zika added there was a clear path of trees that fell down and were uprooted.
Storm trackers for the National Weather Service viewed the damage on Wednesday to determine that tornadoes did touch down.
Zika said the Department of Natural Resources & Environment had a plane that flew over the path of where trees were damaged in Vulcan.
"Otherwise we would have never seen that. It was in a wooded area," he said.
The damaged trees are near a farmhouse, but there is no road to assess the damage.
The tornadoes on Tuesday rated on the National Weather Service's Enhanced Fugita Scale came in as an EF-0. Zika said this is the lowest end of the scale that goes from EF-0 to EF-5.
"It was the weakest of possible tornadoes. By checking the damage and how trees were laying and what we saw on the radar, the storm was rotating a lot," Zika said.
Zika added that a EF-5 range tornado can produce 200 mph winds and has been recorded as high as 350 mph.
The National Weather Service is still trying to figure out why this storm didn't produce a tornado that stayed on the ground.
"All signs said it should have been a tornado on the ground into Menominee County where there was tree damage," Zika said. "Fortunately that's all there was."
The last time a tornado hit Dickinson County was on Sept. 30, 2002. That tornado produced 100 mph winds.
The National Weather Service predicts a quiet weather pattern for the foreseeable future.
Lisa M. Hoffmann's e-mail address is lhoffmann@ironmountaindailynews.com.
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Malamute
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07-31-10 7:00 AM
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I seen it myself out my window. I went and put my pants and shoes on in case i had to bail. :-)
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Peteytabasco
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07-30-10 9:36 PM
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I am sure you are right concernedsenior. Yet another over the hill know it all. I am sure you are more knowledgeable about tornadoes and the weather than the folks at the National Weather Service. You should call them and let them know they have made a mistake, turns out it was just straight line winds, who da thunk it?
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ConcernedSenior
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07-30-10 11:48 AM
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Yup...I,m sure there was a tornado..LOL Only seen by law enforcement. LOL Damage more than likely was caused by straight line winds or a micro-burst. When you see tornado damage, you'll know. This was just strong winds...
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LocalBusinessOwner
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07-30-10 11:38 AM
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I'm sure Elmer would have had his kids out watching it and oohing and ahhing.
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