NWS: EF1 tornado touched down in Clare County

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (WOOD) – Meteorologists with the National Weather Service confirmed it was a tornado that caused significant damage in a central Michigan community on Friday.

The tornado was classified by the NWS as an EF1 with maximum sustained winds of 95 mph, a 12-mile track, and a duration of 34 minutes.

Parts of the Lake George community southwest of Harrison suffered the most damage. Clare County Emergency Management Director Jerry Becker told News 8 there were downed trees, power lines and overturned or sunken boats. Several cabins, outbuildings and garages were also damaged by falling trees. In its report, the NWS spoke of “hundreds” of downed trees.

Becker confirmed that there were no reports of injuries or deaths.

Hundreds of people in the area were without power, but power was restored by Saturday evening.

The storm prompted the NWS to issue a tornado warning based on radar-based rotation rates for east-central Clare County, including Lake George. A severe thunderstorm warning had previously been issued for the same area about a half hour earlier.

The NWS investigation determined it was a tornado after spending the afternoon assessing the damage.