A tornado was reported on the afternoon of Friday, March 6, as a severe storm moved across parts of southern Michigan, leaving at least 4 people dead and multiple injured, according to officials.
The storm cell barreled through Branch and Cass counties, prompting warnings and power outages as it tracked east, according to the National Weather Service.
The Branch County Sheriff's Office reported 3 dead and 12 injured on Friday near Union City. Of the 12 injured, three were taken to area hospitals. "Our thoughts are with those who have lost family, friends, and property during this incident," the Branch County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The Cass County Sheriff's Office later reported another person confirmed dead and "several injured."
The storm prompted tornado warnings from the National Weather Service offices in Grand Rapids and northern Indiana on Friday afternoon, affecting parts of Calhoun, St. Joseph, Cass and Branch counties as it moved at about 35 mph, said NWS meteorologist Alex Mannion.
The NWS office in Grand Rapids said a confirmed tornado was located at 4:43 p.m. just north of Union City near Burlington in southeastern Calhoun County. The tornado, confirmed by trained weather spotters, was moving east and capable of producing damaging winds and quarter-size hail.
The storm also prompted the NWS office in northern Indiana to issue a tornado warning at 5:52 p.m. in northeastern Hillsdale County, including Jerome, Somerset, Moscow and Somerset Center, remaining in effect until 6:30 p.m.
"This thing started to become tornadic over Cass County,” Mannion said. “The cell continued to move into St. Joseph County and was still tornadic, so it was producing a tornado.”
Reports as of 4:30 p.m. included damage near Edwardsburg in Cass County, where trees were knocked down, and a house was damaged near Juno Lake, Mannion said. In St. Joseph County, a video sent to the weather service showed a tornado hitting a Menards store, damaging part of the roof while debris flew through the air. Numerous reports of significant damage came from southwest of Three Rivers.
Officials warned flying debris could be dangerous for anyone caught outside and said mobile homes could be damaged or destroyed. Residents in the warned areas were urged to take shelter immediately in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and to avoid windows.
Meteorologists are still determining whether the damage was caused by a single, long-tracked tornado that remained on the ground or by multiple tornadoes spawned by the same thunderstorm cell.
The system could bring southeast Michigan additional showers and storms Friday night into Saturday, with a low chance of isolated strong storms producing winds of 40 mph or greater, he said. There is a 40% chance of showers Friday night, rising to 80–90% Saturday morning through early afternoon. Sunday is expected to be dry.
“We’re going to watch this ongoing thunderstorm as it comes into our area,” Mannion said. “It’s supposed to weaken, but we might get a strong storm out of it.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
