West Michigan’s Tornado Count Reaches 8 as NWS Confirms New Touchdowns in Barry and Ottawa Counties

WEST MICHIGAN – With the additional verification of two more twisters by the National Weather Service (NWS) after Thursday’s intense storms, the confirmed tornado count in west Michigan is now up to eight. Locally, these latest twisters, one each in Barry and Ottawa counties, have also contributed to the extraordinary tornado activity throughout the state.

One of the additional confirmations was an EF-1 tornado in Barry County; starting from Heron Pointe and he southern part of Gun Lake, the tornado path was about 6.75 miles with the maximum wind speed of 100 mph. The storm, in about 10 minutes, managed to sweep the south side of the lake and eventually dissipated near Otis Sanctuary though not without having caused a lot of damage indeed, it was the trees that were mainly uprooted and several partially blown-off roofs due to falling branches. Also, docks along Gun Lake were so severely damaged that it was reported that entire sections of the dock were ripped off and thrown into the water.
As for Ottawa County, an EF-0 tornado has been confirmed, which was of lesser intensity. The tornado, with the highest wind speeds reaching about 75 mph and running its course for over four minutes, touched down in Zeeland Township and off the ground after reaching Jamestown Township, near Forest Grove Station. Throughout the path, the tornado damaged multiple farm buildings and trees.

Those who kept abreast of weather news up to the point of this latest confirmation would know that as of 2025, Michigan had been struck by 11 tornadoes so far, with such numbers even worse before the start of school a week ago, now we have 27. All the more striking is the fact that the average number of tornadoes annually recorded in Michigan is only 13, yet for a year 2025, we have a whopping 27 so far. This season is the first and possibly the worst ever tornado season in Michigan ever recorded due to the early storm waves experienced in the spring season.