Summer Storm Brings Near Hurricane Force Winds to Muskegon

There are people in West Michigan without power, damage to their homes, and lots of tree cleanup as near hurricane-force winds traveled through Muskegon and the region.

Hurricane Force Winds

Typically when I think of hurricane-force winds, Florida, Texas, and the east coast of the United States come to mind. Michigan is not a state where I associate those winds even though we get our share of tornadoes.

The Nation Weather Service has a 1 to 5 rating for hurricane wind speed. It's called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Below is a breakdown of category 1 - 5 hurricane wind speeds:

• Category 1 - 74 to 95 mph.
• Category 2 - 96 to 110 mph
• Category 3 - 111 to129 mph
• Category 4 -  130 to 156 mph
• Category 5 - 157 mph or higher

Near Hurricane Force Winds Pass Through Muskegon and West Michigan

You might still be cleaning up from storm damage or haven't started yet but those winds that passed through West Michigan this morning were something else. Nearly 150K are out of power in the region this morning including many businesses.

Read More: Michigan's Worst Tornado On Record Of All Time

The US National Weather Service Grand Rapids Michigan provided wind information regarding this morning's storms, and several areas around West Michigan had nearly hurricane-force winds.

Here is the breakdown of wind speeds from this morning's storms in West Michigan:

• Muskegon - 71 mph - 4 mph from a category 1 hurricane
• Norton Shores - 70 mph - 5 mph from a category 1 hurricane
• Grand Rapids - 68 mph
• Stony Lake - 68 mph
• Battle Creek - 60 mph
• Whitehall - 58 mph
• Coopersville - 54 mph
• East Grand Rapids - 52 mph
• Kalamazoo - 51 mph
• Pentwater - 49 mph

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If you are out of power, here is the Consumers Energy Outage Map to see when your power may be restored.