No tornado, but ‘stay vigilant:’ City of Ovid officials

Kate Holloway
·1 min read
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LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Officials in Ovid, Clinton County, say a tornado siren on Friday was precautionary and not a drill.

However, “[according to the National Weather Service] there’s not enough momentum for a tornado to touch the ground,” city officials said in a social media post on Friday afternoon.

A cold air funnel on May 3, 2024, near St. Johns (Photo courtesy Jackie Mulder).
A cold air funnel on May 3, 2024, near St. Johns (Photo courtesy Jackie Mulder).

Still, they said, it’s a good indication to take precautions for potential weather events.

“Stay vigilant!” officials said in the post.

Ingham County Emergency Management posted on its Facebook page after 2 p.m. Friday that “a brief ‘cold air funnel’ was spotted over Clinton County with a line of showers moving ahead of a front this afternoon. This activity should be in Ingham County shortly.”

“Cold air funnels form beneath showers or weak thunderstorms when the air aloft is especially cold…Cold air funnels are usually harmless, but on rare occasions, they can touch down and cause EF-0 level (winds up to 85 mph) tornado damage,” says the National Weather Service.(Photo courtesy National Weather Service)
“Cold air funnels form beneath showers or weak thunderstorms when the air aloft is especially cold…Cold air funnels are usually harmless, but on rare occasions, they can touch down and cause EF-0 level (winds up to 85 mph) tornado damage,” says the National Weather Service.(Photo courtesy National Weather Service)

Though a “cold air funnel” can look a bit like a tornado, “these are NOT tornadoes and RARELY touch the ground, and in those very few cases where they do, the winds are under 50 mph,” the agency said in its post.

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