Rare March Tornado Hits Midland County on March 12, 2012

A rare March tornado hit just southeast of Colemen during the evening hours of March 12.  A listing of all of the severe reports are below.

The Coleman tornado was just the 10th tornado to occur before April 1 in Southeast Michigan (the 17 counties that represent the NWS Detroit/Pontiac area of responsibility). Tornado statistics go back to 1950. Of those ten tornadoes, it is the first to occur north of Interstate 69. The March 12 date also marks a tie for the second earliest tornado in Southeast Michigan since 1950.

Here is a list of the February and March tornadoes...

County	Date
Monroe	03/26/1968
Wayne	02/28/1974
Lenawee	03/12/1976
Oakland	03/20/1976
Macomb	03/20/1976
Monroe	03/27/1991
Monroe	03/27/1991
St. Clair	03/27/1991
Lenawee	03/28/1998
Midland	03/12/2012

0643 PM TORNADO 3 SSE COLEMAN 43.71N 84.57W 03/12/2012 EF1 MIDLAND MI EMERGENCY MNGR EF1 TORNADO WITH WINDS ESTIMATED TO 90 MPH STARTED NEAR WEINERT AND LEWIS ROADS WHERE A GARAGE WAS DESTOYED. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEST DAMAGING 3 MORE POLE BARNS AND UPROOTING TREES...ESPECIALLY AROUND ALAMANDO AND MANDO ROADS AND NEAR THE END OF THE TORNADO PATH AT M-18 AND SHAFFER ROAD. THE TORNADO PATH WAS 5.1 MILES WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 125 YARDS. THE TORNADO ENDED AT 648 PM EDT. 0643 PM HAIL COLEMAN 43.76N 84.59W 03/12/2012 E2.00 INCH MIDLAND MI BROADCAST MEDIA MULTIPLE REPORTS AND PICUTRES OF 2 INCH HAIL IN COLEMAN. 0643 PM HAIL 3 S COLEMAN 43.71N 84.59W 03/12/2012 M1.25 INCH MIDLAND MI STORM CHASER

0720 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 SSE MOUNT FOREST      43.84N 84.09W 03/12/2012                   BAY                MI   BROADCAST MEDIA              MULTIPLE TREES DOWN AND A BOAT DESTROYED.