NWS to assess possible tornado damage at Fuller
Scott Pepin of the Delta County Parks and Recreation Department pauses between cutting sections of a huge fallen tree with a chainsaw to direct a tractor to pick up debris in the day use area of O.B. Fuller Park. The damage was caused by a storm on Monday evening. (R. R. Branstrom)
Multiple large trees are seen uprooted in OB Fuller Park's day use area on Wednesday morning. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A large, uprooted tree has been cut, leaving a stump that appears otherwise healthy. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Scott Pepin saws through ones of the larger downed trees at OB Fuller Park on Wednesday. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
In Fuller Park, a tree about 18 inches across snapped about five feet from its base. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A chunk of forest floor that had held both mature and young trees is seen on its side after a storm ripped through OB Fuller Park on Monday evening. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Terry Aicher moves brush as crews for the parks department of Delta County clear storm debris. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Scott Pepin of the Delta County Parks and Recreation Department pauses between cutting sections of a huge fallen tree with a chainsaw to direct a tractor to pick up debris in the day use area of O.B. Fuller Park. The damage was caused by a storm on Monday evening. (R. R. Branstrom)
Multiple large trees are seen uprooted in OB Fuller Park's day use area on Wednesday morning. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A large, uprooted tree has been cut, leaving a stump that appears otherwise healthy. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Scott Pepin saws through ones of the larger downed trees at OB Fuller Park on Wednesday. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
In Fuller Park, a tree about 18 inches across snapped about five feet from its base. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A chunk of forest floor that had held both mature and young trees is seen on its side after a storm ripped through OB Fuller Park on Monday evening. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Terry Aicher moves brush as crews for the parks department of Delta County clear storm debris. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
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FORD RIVER TOWNSHIP -- Employees working with the Delta County Parks have been busy at O.B. Fuller Park the past several days clearing snapped and uprooted trees and other debris that was left behind by a major storm on Monday evening.
A sizeable part of the Upper Peninsula had been under thunderstorm warnings, tornado watches and tornado warnings the night of July 20. While it cannot be said for certain that the event that mangled Fuller Park’s landscape was a tornado until the National Weather Service (NWS) assesses the damage, conditions that evening made it possible.
The NWS is expected to visit the scene this morning, Thursday, whereupon they will take measurements and make the determination whether a tornado touched down. To do so, they use compasses to consider the angles of fallen trees, especially large ones with roots attached.
In Fuller Park, multiple large trees were uprooted, others were snapped from the trunk, and in least one area, a chunk of earth over 10 feet in diameter and carrying several trees was pulled up and left lying perpendicular to its former position. After the storm, campers who had taken shelter in bathrooms reportedly helped free a couple who were trapped in their camper by downed trees.
Extreme weather elsewhere Monday evening prompted people around the area to heed emergency alerts and take shelter in basements. Hailstones close to three inches in diameter fell near Rock. Rotation, which can produce tornadoes, was observed, according to the NWS station in Marquette. On social media, people shared photos of fallen trees, flooded streets and in one instance, a waterspout over Lake Superior.
Just three weeks ago, a tornado was confirmed to have touched down near Trenary.