The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-0 tornado touched down near Applegate and traveled into Lexington last Friday, leaving damage in its wake.
Around 3:24 p.m. on Friday, July 14, a tornado touched down southeast of Applegate, tracking southeast through Townsend and Wixson Roads, snapping large tree limbs and damaging crops with estimated winds of up to 70mph. According to the NWS’ report, the more concentrated damage began near the intersection of Babcock Road and Aitken Road, uprooting softwood trees in a circular pattern, snapping more tree limbs and minorly damaging a home.
At this point, the tornado was about 475 yards wide with wind speeds up to 80 mph, and continued moving southeast and crossing M-25 into Sanilac County’s Lexington Park. There it damaged more trees and even dropped a large tree limb onto a camper. Damage done, the track of the tornado exited into Lake Huron, ending an almost five mile long path traveled in only 11 minutes. No injuries were reported.
Last Friday afternoon saw a multitude of storms, with thunderstorms that took down trees reported in Tuscola County and Lapeer County. Lapeer County also reported golf ball sized hail.
While it has not been confirmed by the National Weather Service if a tornado touched down at Lexington’s Camp Cavell, less than 2 miles away from the county park, the camp suffered extensive wind damage, with tree limbs falling on and through cabin roofs, outhouses tipped over, and even more tree limbs blocking paths and facilities.
