This tornado was the PERFECT example that you don't always see that menacing black funnel. It can be fairly transparent like that. A tornado does not have to be rain wrapped to be hard to see.

I'm from Texas and we were always told if you can't tell where the tornado is headed then it's headed straight towards you! Prayers for the people of Gaylord Michigan

Holy crap! You're lucky the tornado didn't throw your car a mile somewhere else! Haven't seen anyone that would film a tornado literally hitting them!

Holy shit. Guy picked the exact WRONG place to pull off the road.

The only reason this car wasn't tossed like a sardine can was the weight of his balls of steel.

Hate to say it dude but this is how Michigan people roll.

DUDE!!! Yikes! I'm so glad you're ok!! It looked far enough away to me to be safe but suddenly everything was flying at you. Oh my gosh!! So glad you survived that!!

How frightening - incredible footage. Thank you for sharing.

Gaylord native here; verified EF3 tornado with 150+ mph winds. Absolutely unreal scenario

Wow this was one of the most intense videos I've seen yet. That tornado was almost on top of you. That was crazy. Thank you for sharing your video.

Im on the west coast of michigan, hearing and seeing stuff like this happening elsewhere in the state is just insane, we had a straightwind/tornado/ strong winds type of event around here quite a few years back, tore up trees and telephone poles and the like, not nearly as bad as whats happening here, cant imagine how scary that mustve been. Wishing luck to those effected in gaylord

Seriously, guys! Tornados are unpredictable. They could go anywhere without notice. The guy survived! Praise the lord!

Nobody chases tornadoes like we do here in Northern Michigan!

Brother you are down right crazy. Hope your safe.

Great video capture. Thanks for sharing.

Prayers for everyone..I live in lower Michigan so glad it missed us

breathtaking video, glad you shared it although when you pulled into the lot I figured you were turning around, which might of been safer from the looks of it!

iam in boyne city and the sky sure looked bad, but we got a little rain and zero wind, crazy what a difference of 20 miles makes

Holy damn!! No, I genuinely don’t have any words other than that cause _wow!_ Hope the person filming wasn’t hurt.

I'd already seen the news pictures of the goodwill destroyed. I watched as this guy pulls into the goodwill and parked and I thought, oh no!

This guy drove right into the tornado’s path and then proceeded to simply stop for almost a full minute until it goes right over top of him. Why?

I love how in modern day how getting the footage is more of a priority than running for cover or helping someone.

I live and work in the Gaylord area and have driven through the damage path of this storm many times, both before and after the tornado went through. It was tough watching this person pull into the Goodwill parking lot, knowing that they were about to find themselves directly in the path of the tornado. I kept waiting for them to realize their mistake, but they rode it all the way out. They're lucky to be alive.

Holy shit!! Scared me when that shit hit the car.. can't imagine being the one in the car

*”this is probably the most APPROPRIATELY titled video on KZfaq, glad you are safe and sound friend and thank you for sharing, peace and love” ✌🏾❤️ 🌪 - MELL DUNEY 616*

We were at our cabin going through a two track on our way to town to get supplies and heard what I thought was never ending thunder..turns out, we were hearing the tornado. By the time we got the warning on our phone it had already happened. We missed it by minutes. If we would have gone the original route we would have been in the center of it. The damage is devastating. I feel so bad about the ones that died and everyone that was scared and hurt.

I live in the south. The area I'm in is called Tornado Alley. My advice, dont take any chances. Duck and cover.

God Bless everyone & keep them safe🙏💙

Great footage. Good to see the Tornado right up close.

I did some systems contract work in Gaylord in '94, flown in all the way from California, and never imagined it, or its people being at risk of such a Tornado. I thought it was too far NE of Tornado alley. Such a "hold one's breath" video, debris from a Tornado being the biggest risk to injury. I was golfing on a bright clear sunny day in '80, when within a span of 40 minutes clouds built up from the puffy ones to just one dark, green, sky, unforecast, and then the sound of a thundering train engine and a feeling of helplessness for my Dad and I, my Dad stayed at the first tee, holding on to a fence, I thought I could make it to the clubhouse, but I did not see the funnel come from behind the trees, and I was caught in (luckily) an F0 Tornado for what might have been about 20 seconds. What was odd is though I was in the open, I could not move--the winds seemed to be coming from every direction holding me upright like I was in a straightjacket. I could only see a bronze hue of dust before I closed my eyes to protect them. Then it was gone, and I looked back at where my Dad was, and he was staring at me as if I was Elijah from the Bible taken in a whirlwind, then he nodded to my left--75 feet away, an 80 foot pine tree, icon of the golf course, was broken at its base like a matchstick. I had just a few cuts on my arms from debris, like I'd been scratched by a cat. The golf course, crowded that afternoon was depressing my dad and I that we were not going to continue playing, but everyone except us and the owners cleared out after the Tornado, so my Dad and I looked at each other with a light mist falling and said "we have the course to ourselves"... We played on, but we could not putt on the first five greens, that had been in the Tornado's path and were covered with broken branches, shingles from a few damaged outhouses, and twigs. I have felt it odd, except in this case and the Loma Prieta earthquake, that a handful of places I have been to had Tornados, Dam Collapses (The Teton Dam) and earthquakes within 1-2 years of my visits. Siren Wisconsin was one example, like Gaylord, a small nice community in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, casualties though awful were light, so I like to think that the same guardian angels that have protected me from these disasters protected others who walked in my footsteps--many more could have been hurt in Gaylord but were not, and their townspeople were so kind to me and my systems crew while we worked there in '94, putting in a hotel system at a Holiday Inn flagged Hotel at that time. I have always felt when nature strikes, does not matter what our skin color is--the best comes out in people.

I live about 12 miles SW from Gaylord. I'm not sure if we had the actual tornado but we were in the path it took. Bellaire, MI. had damage and lost power. I'm a little north of Mancelona, MI and we had rain going sideways and extreme wind. It lifted the back of my trailer and I thought me and my cats were going for a ride. We had damage limited to anything that wasn't tied down and it was scattered everywhere. Prayers for all the people.

I live in Rogers City. Glad you survived!!

Amazing. Well done. My top 5.

Why'd you stop to record this? Well now you are a YT superstar

I remember seeing footage of the Goodwill building being damaged and when I saw you pull into the Goodwill parking lot, I was like, "Uh oh...."

Why stop in the same direction of the tornado? I think it would be reasonable to go in the other direction away from the tornado!

Holy Moly! That tornado got really strong and scary really fast. It looked pretty harmless at first, but it starting throwing big debris right at the person filming the thing in his vehicle. I hope he's ok!

Awesome footage!

My friends and I were camping in Gladwin that day, lots of thunder and rain that night.

Awesome !!! direct hit. Balls. thanks for living thru this!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah these don't normally happen up here. Crazy stuff!

Dude. What a rush. Hope you are all right.

Glad you are ok

That's a really weird looking tornado. I'm glad you're ok. You have some serious balls to be able to keep filming as it hits your car. 😳

Wow, that was insane footage. You can see one of the buildings get torn apart and blown across the road before hitting your vehicle. Glad you're okay! Great footage though.

that last 20seconds on this was so crucially close. crazy

I'm pretty sure that large section of roof that went airborne.....exit stage right....wrapped around and became visible again and hit you

Man, being inside that tornado was WICKED! If it was me, I would have turned around and booked it the other way

This is why you should get an award, staying with the tornado until it hits you. This video should be viral, excellent clip.

Very scary! I hope they’re ok.

That was the perfect angle to document Nottingham getting leveled.

I'm looking for the aftermath video of that hit. Dayum.

My God. This is not something you see in Michigan. The devastation is surreal. I pray my fellow Michiganders find a sense of peace, and healing. In Gaylord, everyone is family… neighbors help neighbors. Together I know they will stay strong. My heart is with you all… people and animals. 🙏🏻

Good footage. Tornadoes are awesome but yet scary and dangerous. Especially when they happen at night. I’m from Virginia and we had one about 3 weeks ago and I was really close to it. It was a EF1.

Man, I hope you guys are alright.

Yeah ... what a ride. Nice video you were right in it alright. Tell us about what happened after that.

Is this guy a mute? Or just fearless, he didn't make a sound! Amazing video!

YIKES!!! I'm so thankful you stopped instead of driving on. I truly thankful that you are okay other than pretty shaken up(I probably would have screamed and been crying especially when the debris started coming-even though I know I would have been PRAYING there's a very real possibility I would have cursed because I am very much human and will never be perfect). You seemed so calm like no big deal. When the larger debris and the tin hit and landed on your vehicle, I am amazed there was no reaction. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY NOW AND ALWAYS 🙏 I HAVE THE UTMOST RESPECT FOR YOU AND YOUR CHARACTER. YOUR PARENTS RAISED A TRULY GOOD PERSON 🙏 PRAYERFULLY YOU AND EVERYONE IS AS OKAY AS YOU CAN BE TO GO THROUGH SOMETHING LIFE ALTERING AND I SINCERELY PRAY THAT ALL THE DAMAGES LEFT BEHIND CAN BE REBUILT QUICKLY AND I ALSO PRAY THAT EVERYONE AFFECTED BY THIS IS BLESSED WITH MANY MIRACLES AND COMPLETE HEALING FROM THE TRAUMA THAT HAD TO CAUSE🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 SENDING MANY HEALING HUGS, LOVE AND PRAYERS FOR YOU AND EVERYONE 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 I'LL KEEP PRAYING 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Wow guess you couldn't figure out it was coming straight at you. Hope you're alright?

Holy shit, glad you're ok

If you cannot see the tornado move left or right, its coming directly at you. Not a good place to stop. This person is VERY lucky. Debris is the most dangerous aspect of a tornado.

man that sucks, you have a Hank Williams Jr. add right when the tornado comes in screwed up a good video. bummed out not seeing the tornado come in.

Amazing footage, was this person okay?? Thanks for sharing and prayers 🙏 go out to those affected by this disaster.

This guy sure can keep it cool in a tense situation and I would have been mighty pissed about that piece of tin blocking my view and rubbing my car scratching the shit out it.

Did ya get any videos of the aftermath. And how bad where ya hurt?

Please tell me you're ok. Me and my family just went to Mackinaw City this weekend and we went through the town of Gaylord and we saw the damage that happened in that town and we saw the Goodwill that you pulled into in the video. We hope you're ok.

Tip learned from working on a boat... if an object does not appear to be moving it's either standing still or coming right at you

Everyone is a Critic nowadays eh. Luckily, I was at home so I missed it. Thanks for the upload.

This was bad.. and the winters up here are horrific as well folks

would have loved to see the rest of the video how it turned out.

I was in Elmira when this hit. I could see the ominous looking clouds in the East, but didn’t find out that it was a tornado until I got home. Unfortunately, I still felt the heat of the storm due to the golf ball sized hail that dented up my car.

I think we should applaud this guy for taking one for the team

Glad your alive!! You pulled right into hobby lobby parking lot it look like. Wow.

A car is just about the worst place you can possibly be in a tornado! I can’t express how lucky this man is. The tornado could have thrown the car around. The debris could have crashed through the windshield, and literally taken someone’s head off. Unfortunately, the injuries that tornadoes often inflict on people trapped in vehicles can be really gruesome.

Whoever filmed this didn't even say anything. No narration whatsoever even on impact. Cool under pressure.

That formed so doggone fast!

oh my that was incredible, i would have been petrified

I like how shit is flying closer and closer to your car and you stay there. Darwin award nominee.

Wow. In... tense.

Cool video. Would have been so much better had the person held their phone correctly.

Did the person making the video make it?

Whoa!

now that escalated quickly

Northern Michigan is not exempt from tornadoes although the one in Gaylord was a rare strong tornado. In the 50s the Beecher area of flint was the most destructive. Also in the 50s the Grand Rapids area was also hit with a EF-3. The Standale and Hudsonville area was hit the hardest causing major damage. Kalamazoo in May 1980 was also hit hard in the Downtown area causing Five deaths.This tornado was on the ground for 28 miles. Starting east of Bangor it followed M-43 all the way to Downtown Kalamazoo.Dexter Mi outside Ann Arbor also has been hit hard by a tornado in recent years.This tornado caused major damage also.On Palm Sunday 1965 tornadoes traveled from Indiana Elkhart area through every county bordering Indiana & Ohio in southern Michigan causing major damage and deaths. Only two counties south of I-94 were spared in 1965 Berrien and Cass. Also Michigan has been hit by tornadoes in the winter. Three rare winter time tornadoes happened on February 28,2017. EF-1 & 2 tornadoes hit Niles , Dowagiac and near Vandalia in Berrien and Cass Counties. There was snow on the ground when these twisters hit. Northeast side of the city of Niles and Southwest side of Dowagiac had significant damage. The tornado near Vandalia hit mostly farms although some damage was reported to cottages on one lake. Other wintertime tornados have happened in Kalamazoo county 2015 and Wayne County 1974. Michigan averages 16 tornado reports a year. Most of the tornados are reported in the southern part of the state. Although tornadoes can happen anywhere in Michigan including the UP. Most springtime storms that move into Michigan from the west from Illinois & Wisconsin seem to weaken when moving over the cooler water of Lake Michigan. Although storms that move over land in unstable warm moist air from Indiana and Ohio can become strong in the spring when they arrive in southern Michigan. Michigan has had tornadoes for years. Although most are weaker EF-1 EF-2 range. Stronger tornadoes have happened EF-3 and 4 and probably will happen again do to the climate warming in the region.

Any idea if the filmer was hurt?

As I watched the tornado not moving left or right but just getting larger I knew it was coming right at you. Had you kept going it would have crossed the road behind you. Thankfully your ok.

Gaylord does not have tornado sirens because tornados are so rare that far north in Michigan

He pulled right into the path of that Nader in the goodwill parking lot, very unfortunate. Just goes to show the unpredictability of any tornado.

Amazing. I was yelling 'turn off the wipers fooo' when the video cut off- did this person survive?

I wonder what happened to the person that drove DIRECTLY INTO THE PATH of that tornado at the last second. Must have been thinking about ending it all that day?

OH my !!!!

What an unfortunate town name

That was soo scary when it came threw it was thirty minutes away from my house…

Who's footage is this?

Hero video

Kansas India Germany Now Michigan ???? Damn Tornadoes are prety active this year.

People driving: ''Is there something going on?'' Tornado: ''Hi!''

Not clickbait!

Turns to park where it comes directly at him. Really smart. At least debris landed on top and not through you.

I crapped my pants watching your video. I see how easy it is to misjudged the direction