Tornado outbreak of April 2–3, 1956
From April 2–3, 1956, a large, deadly tornado outbreak affected the Great Plains, parts of the South, and the upper Midwest in the contiguous United States, especially the Great Lakes region. The outbreak produced at least 55 tornadoes, including an [List of List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes|F5 and EF5 tornadoes|F5] that devastated the Grand Rapids metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan on April 3. It was one of three tornadoes to move across southwest Lower Michigan on that day. A fourth tornado struck north of the Manistee area, in the northern part of the peninsula. The Hudsonville–Standale tornado killed 17 and injured 333. It remains the fourth deadliest tornado on record in Michigan and is the most recent F5 on record there. Several other deadly, intense, long-tracked tornadoes also occurred during the outbreak. In addition to the fatalities in Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan and Berlin, Wisconsin, three people were killed in Tennessee, one person in Kentucky and two more people in Wisconsin. In total, 39 were killed during the entire event.
Background
Tuesday, April 3, 1956, was a warm and humid day across most of the Midwestern U.S., the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley. Temperatures in the areas affected by the worst of the outbreak were well into the 70s °F, approaching in Michigan, with anomalously high dew points—the latter exceeding near the shoreline of Lake Michigan. A potent low-pressure area accompanied an intense mid-latitude cyclone with a pronounced dry line located near the western Great Lakes. An attendant warm front extended eastward over Wisconsin, a vigorous cold front southward through Illinois. In tandem with the advancing trough, a strong jet stream with winds up to extended over Little Rock, Arkansas, and impinged on the Upper Midwest. Prior to the arrival of the storms in the region, schools had closed earlier than usual due to the threat of severe weather. By late afternoon, the cold front crossed over the western Great Lakes including Lake Michigan.Confirmed tornadoes
Prior to 1990, there is a likely undercount of tornadoes, particularly E/F0–1, with reports of weaker tornadoes becoming more common as population increased. A sharp increase in the annual average E/F0–1 count by approximately 200 tornadoes was noted upon the implementation of NEXRAD system of Doppler weather radar in 1990–1991. 1974 marked the first year where significant tornado counts became homogeneous with contemporary values, attributed to the consistent implementation of Fujita scale assessments. Numerous discrepancies on the details of tornadoes in this outbreak exist between sources. The total count of tornadoes and ratings differs from various agencies accordingly. The list below documents information from the most contemporary official sources alongside assessments from tornado historian Thomas P. Grazulis. In addition to confirmed tornadoes, a funnel cloud near Jenera, Ohio, was officially but incorrectly listed as a tornado.| Color / symbol | Description |
| † | Data from Grazulis 1990/1993/2001b |
| ¶ | Data from a local National Weather Service office |
| ※ | Data from the 1956 Climatological Data National Summary publication |
| ‡ | Data from the NCEI database |
| ♯ | Maximum width of tornado |
| ± | Tornado was rated below F2 intensity by Grazulis but a specific rating is unavailable. |
Berlin, Wisconsin
At around 1:45 PM CST, A thin but violent tornado would touch down just to the south of Berlin, Wisconsin. The tornado would track northwest towards the city. In Berlin the tornado would level The Carnation plant, along with multiple homes, destroying a total of 20. Various items from Berlin would be thrown all across Wisconsin. A package of knitted products from a knitting mill was carried north for 35 miles, and a package of papers would be found 75 miles to the north-northeast of Berlin. The tornado would claim the lives of 7 within Berlin before tracking northeastward. The tornado would remain over rural areas until it dissipated 2 miles west of Omro, Wisconsin at around 1:53 PM CST.Saugatuck–Gibson–Graafschap–Holland, Michigan
This violent tornado was the first member of a long-lived, destructive family. It and the Hudsonville–Standale F5 are officially listed as a single, long-tracked, continuous tornado with a path, but were retrospectively and separately determined by Thomas P. Grazulis and the National Weather Service to have been a family of two or more tornadoes, one of which was a F4 and the other a F5, the latter being the most recent F5 tornado on record in Michigan. The first tornado may have passed through or near Gibson and Graafschap, lifted near Holland, and passed aloft over Zeeland Charter Township before reforming into and touching down as a second tornado just east of town. This second tornado then continued northeast before lifting a short distance north of Trufant.The first member of the family developed over Lake Michigan and moved ashore a short distance south of Oval Beach, damaging a CBU building and several summer houses at Camp Gray. Heading north-northeastward, it passed near Mount Baldhead, wrecking a wooden beachfront home. An old, well-constructed, anchor-bolted lighthouse, fastened by a dozen iron pylons, was leveled, along with a trio of outbuildings and a cabin; all the pylons at the lighthouse were snapped or dislodged, indicating F4 winds. The tornado crossed part of the present-day Saugatuck Dunes State Park. Along the rest of its path, the tornado wrecked three homes—one brick, a pair frame, a twin-storied among the latter—and unroofed or destroyed a few barns. A few of the homes sustained at least F4 damage. Windows were smashed at a multi-story retail structure as well. Barns, outbuildings, and garages were wrecked along the path. Seven people were injured.