National Weather Service Reports 2 EF-0 Tornadoes in West Michigan Tornado Warnings
The National Weather Service said tornado warnings in West Michigan followed 2 EF-0 tornadoes that touched down Thursday night, one in southeast Kent County near Alto and the other in Barry County. Alto sits about 21 miles southeast of Grand Rapids.
The two tornadoes add to Michigan’s 2026 total, which stood at 20 confirmed tornadoes as of Saturday. Most of the state’s tornadoes this year have been on the weaker end of the wind and damage scale.
Alto and Barry County
The tornado near Alto touched down in southeast Kent County, while the second struck Barry County. The National Weather Service said both were EF-0 tornadoes, with estimated winds between 65 mph and 85 mph.
For residents and property owners in those areas, the practical takeaway is narrow but immediate: the damage survey now pins down where the twisters hit and how strong they were rated. That helps define which storm reports are part of the same event and which spots saw separate tornado paths.
Michigan's 2026 count
Thursday night’s reports came after two tornadoes touched down in Michigan on Tuesday, when an EF-1 tornado ripped through Freeland and an EF-U tornado was spotted in Montrose. Those earlier storms brought Michigan’s recent total higher before the West Michigan tornadoes were added.
As of Saturday, nine of Michigan’s 2026 tornadoes had happened during the outbreak between April 14 and April 25. The state’s tally now shows that even a year with mostly weaker tornadoes can still produce several separate twisters across different counties in the same week.
Midwest storms Thursday
The West Michigan tornadoes came during a broader severe weather outbreak across the Midwest. Late Thursday, at least 3 tornadoes in Illinois and 1 in Indiana touched down during storms that knocked out power for more than 221,000 people in Illinois.
For people in the affected counties, the next step is to follow local damage reports and watch for any survey updates tied to the two West Michigan touchdowns. The immediate picture now is not one isolated storm, but a multi-state system that produced tornadoes in separate places on the same night.
