History has nothing to do with the current weather pattern. When this F5 occurred fifty years ago there weren't chronic vortices or recurrent Cat 5 storms in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
50th Anniversary of F5 Tornado
By: Keith Thompson, Weather First Chief Meteorologist
April 3, 2006 - 12:36AM
Today marks the 50th anniversary of a deadly F5 tornado in West Michigan. Named the Standale tornado, it ripped a path though eastern Ottawa County from Hudsonville to Standale. 17 people were killed by the twister.
The tornado is one of only two F5 tornadoes to be documented in Michigan. The other was in Flint in 1953. An F5 tornado is the most powerful of all tornadoes. They are quite rare. Of the many thousands of tornadoes that have been documented in the United States since 1950, only 51 have been rated an F5.
Speaking of tornadic weather, according to the Storm Prediction Center, there were dozens of tornadoes reported Sunday -- occurring mainly in Illinois, Arkansas and Tennessee. There were reports of a tornado in Indianapolis. Several buildings in downtown Indianapolis were damaged by severe weather.
The Storm Prediction Center collected nearly 600 reports of large hail, high winds and tornadoes from Sunday's outbreak. Fortunately, the storms lost much of their power by the time they moved through West Michigan early Monday morning.
