The National Weather Service has determined that no tornadoes touched down in the Lansing area during the severe storms that swept across parts of Mid-Michigan on Sept. 3.
Meteorologist Scott Thomas, with the National Weather Service office in Grand Rapids, said damage surveys and reports indicate the Lansing-area damage was caused by straight-line winds.
“Everything suggests that we dealt with straight-line winds and not tornadoes in the Lansing area,” Thomas said.
While no tornadoes were confirmed near Lansing, two tornadoes were identified in southeast Michigan. Thomas said an EF-0 tornado occurred in Lincoln Park, while an EF-2 tornado touched down in Detroit before moving across Belle Isle and into Ontario.
The latest assessments leave Michigan with 29 confirmed tornadoes in 2026.
“Most of these have been EF zeros or ones,” Thomas said. “We've had three that were EF2 or higher, and one of them was an EF3, which would be Union City back in March.”
Thomas said South Central Michigan has experienced about four tornadoes this year, including one in the Grand Ledge area of Eaton County, one that moved through portions of Montcalm and Gratiot counties, and two in Barry County.
Although Michigan is moving beyond the busiest part of tornado season, Thomas said the threat does not disappear with the arrival of fall.
“We have gotten past the peak of our tornado season,” Thomas said. “But tornadoes are possible any time of year.”
He noted tornadoes have occurred in Michigan as early as February and as late as November, and said the state has even experienced a December tornado in recent years.
Thomas said the last two years have been more active than average for tornadoes in Michigan, with more than 30 tornadoes recorded in 2025 and nearly that many already confirmed this year.
“We've had the last couple years have been pretty active, above average for Michigan tornadoes,” Thomas said.
However, he cautioned that the increase may not be due entirely to weather patterns.
“There may be some non-meteorological factors too,” Thomas said, citing improvements in tornado detection and the amount of information available to forecasters.
Thomas said residents should continue to monitor weather conditions year-round by using multiple sources of information, including local media, weather.gov and NOAA Weather Radio, and by having a severe weather safety plan in place before storms develop.
