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More than a dozen tornadoes were confirmed in Michigan in early 2026. Here's why.

By
Ahmad Bajjey
Ahmad Bajjey
Ahmad Bajjey is a Chief Meteorologist at CBS News Detroit. Coming to CBS Detroit is a return home after growing up in Dearborn where his family still lives. He has spent the past 9 1/2 years in Flint as a meteorologist and most recently as chief meteorologist for WEYI and WSMH.
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Ahmad Bajjey

/ CBS Detroit

This past week has been a wild one in the weather department. 

The National Weather Service confirmed that nine tornadoes touched down in the state during this week's storms. In addition to the several others that were confirmed earlier this year, Michigan is already at our annual average.

In total, Michigan has had 14 tornadoes in 2026, where we average of 13 to 16 tornadoes a year. Last year was busy, with 33 tornadoes, and most of those were at the beginning of the severe weather season as well.

CBS News Detroit 2026 tornado watch

Why has it been so busy?

While large storm systems happen often, they need to line up correctly with Michigan to provide us with the most unstable air at the right time for storms to occur. One big boost to this happening is the overall atmospheric setup we are in.

This past winter was a La Niña winter with wetter and colder conditions overall, and we are looking ahead to a very strong El Niño fall and winter to end this year. The gap in between is what we call ENSO Neutral, where there is no lean in either direction with the currents in the Pacific.

CBS News Detroit tornado watch

In ENSO Neutral severe weather seasons like this one, more often than not, say about 80% of the time, we see more active severe weather patterns. It's not always, but it's a strong lean in the direction of higher activity.

We expect more severe weather chances to continue through the middle of the summer, but after that, we may see a bit of a relaxed setup as a strong El Niño takes hold.

Stay tuned for more info on that to come from the NEXT Weather team in the coming days.

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