Thousands of Michiganders are still without power after Tuesday’s severe storms tore across the state, and now they are bracing for another round of potentially destructive weather.
DETROIT – Thousands of Michiganders are still without power after severe storms earlier in the week tore across the state as they are bracing for another round of potentially destructive weather Friday.
“After the thunderstorms on Tuesday, we actually had over a quarter million customers in Michigan without power because we had hurricane-force wind gusts,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said.
A Michigan home was torn to shreds by falling trees when a line of severe storms hit the region Tuesday evening.
As of Friday morning, more than 17,000 utility customers in Michigan were still without power.
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This comes following the third time in a week that severe weather has impacted parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes. In Minnesota on Thursday, flight delays were reported at the Minneapolis airport. Storms also delayed a college football game and prompted thousands to seek shelter at the Minnesota State Fair.
Storm clouds rolled through Minnesota on Thursday with the threats of hail and damaging winds.
Currently, thunderstorms are firing in a stretch from Kansas through Missouri into Iowa, up through Wisconsin and Illinois. No major Labor Day weekend travel delays have been reported at this time, but evening flights in and out of Detroit could be impacted by the weather.
“The travel impact here for the Great Lakes is notable,” Merwin said. “We will have to look out for Chicago this morning as we have showers and storms that are very close by.”
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(FOX Weather)
Severe storms are expected to fire up across the Great Lakes on Friday afternoon into the evening. The storms could produce damaging winds and a tornado or two, particularly around the Detroit metro area, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
In addition to the Motor City, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has placed more than 5.4 million people in major Michigan cities, such as Warren, Sterling Heights, Flint, and Ann Arbor, under a Level 2 out of 5 threat for severe weather.
(FOX Weather)
More isolated strong to severe storms are possible in parts of the Midwest and also across parts of the Carolinas and Virginia into northeast Georgia.