
There Is a Single Michigan County With Almost No Risk for a Tornado
Michigan has a significant history of tornados. While not quite like the states of Tornado Alley, there are been some doozies over the years like the 1953 twister in the Flint area that's considered one of the 10 deadliest in the nation's history to the recent Portage tornado in Southwest Michigan from 2024.
An interesting map shows the largest tornados to ever strike every county in America from no recorded tornados through the entire Fujita scale from F0 to F5.
In Michigan, only 7 counties have ever seen the most destructive tornado, an F5, pass through - Ottawa, Kent, Montcalm, Genesee, Lapeer, Tuscola and Sanilac.
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On the other side of the tornado scale, Keweenaw County at the tip of Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula has never seen a storm that generated more than an EF0, the weakest tornado - those would be classified as 'gale' tornados with wind speeds up to 72 miles per hour and 3 second gusts up to 85 mph on the enhanced Fujita scale.
Generally, the Upper Peninsula is far more tornado-proof than the Lower Peninsula with many stronger storms passing through the middle of the mitten and southward.
The Keweenaw County Office of Emergency Management does include the county's scant tornadic history in its planning documents.

From 1950-2019, there have only been two tornadoes recorded in Keweenaw County. The tornadoes occurred on July 11, 1987 and August 28, 2003 and both were rated an F0. No specific details were reported about the path, but the 1987 tornado reportedly occurred southeast of the Village of Ahmeek, near the Keweenaw and Houghton County political border. It caused an estimated $2,500 in property damages, but no details were provided.
While tornados always have the possibility of forming the county considers the risk in the Keweenaw to be "very low." Of course, there are many wintertime weather concerns in that part of the state.
Check out the Michigan portion of the map, and see the full version on X.
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Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF