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Severe Storms Eye Metro Detroit As Giant Hail Pounds Northern Michigan

DETROIT (WWJ) - Thunderstorms are eyeing the metro Detroit area as severe weather pummels northern Michigan.

The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for northeastern Washtenaw County, Wayne County and southern Oakland County until 8 p.m. Friday.

An earlier Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for the entire Southeast Michigan area and beyond — also in effect until 8 p.m.

Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties are included under the watch, along with Allegan, Barry, Bay, Calhoun, Clare, Clinton,
Eaton, Genesee, Gratiot, Huron, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent Lake, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Mason, Mecosta, Midland, Monroe, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Sanilac, Shiawassee,
Tuscola, Van Buren and Washtenaw.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Dave Samuel says the threat in the Detroit area doesn't begin until sometime after 4 p.m., carrying through the early evening hours.

"It's nothing imminent, though — that's what a watch means," Samuel reported. "Just basically watch out over the rest of the afternoon."

Meantime, up north, Samuel said he was looking at three separate reports of hail up to three inches in diameter.

"That is ridiculously big hail; we're talking nearly baseball-size," Samuel said. "So that's some nasty stuff going on up there. Hopefully the storms diminish and the hail is not as bad locally. I'm more worried about some high winds as these storms move through; and also the very heavy rain — especially in the areas that got nailed last night."

Damage was seen south of Alpena, including damage to farm building, where a trained NWS spotter reported wind gusts of 50 miles per hour two-inch hail.

Samuel said the good news is this front will knock down temperatures just a bit, making for a comfortable weekend with highs in the low to mid-80s along with cooler nights.

The heat, he said, will return early next week.

Don't get caught in the storm: Keep it tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for the latest forecast during traffic and weather, every 10 minutes on the 8s. See the live, local radar now at this link.

Sign up for severe weather text alerts: Text STORM to 95001
For daily weather forecast text alerts: Text FORECAST to 95001

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