Michigan's 16th tornado in 2026 recorded in Otsego County
The National Weather Service confirms that an EF-0 tornado touched down in Otsego County, Michigan, earlier this week, bringing Michigan's 2026 total to 16 tornadoes.
Officials say a tornadic waterspout briefly touched down on Big Bradford Lake in Waters in southern Otsego County. The tornado lasted 1 minute at 65 mph, traveled 0.1 miles and was 20 yards wide.
The waterspout caused minor damage to tree branches and free-standing objects along a section of the eastern shore of Big Bradford Lake, the NWS said.
A normal or fair-weather waterspout builds in an environment with warm rising air into cooler air, which creates a condensing moisture funnel. These are very similar to how dust devils form on land.
A tornadic waterspout forms from a rotating thunderstorm, a supercell, and is, at its most basic sense, a tornado that happened to develop over water. Unlike waterspouts that rarely last past a few yards on land, a tornadic waterspout can come onshore and continue causing tornadic damage.
As of May 20, 2026, 16 tornadoes had touched down in Michigan this year, surpassing the average number of tornadoes for a whole year (13 to 16). Nine of those 16 tornadoes occurred during severe storms overnight on April 15.
