Michigan Weather: String of Storms

St. Clair, Michigan, June 9 -- I was on my way home from a day of shopping in Fort Gratiot on Sunday, June 8. The radio DJ had been saying all afternoon that it was a crazy Sunday for weather. I didn't really pay too much attention though.

I was in the Port Huron area and it was hot and sunny every time I got in and out of my car. As I drove from Port Huron to St. Clair beginning at about 5:25 p.m., the skies got progressively darker as I drove through Marysville. I was taking the River Road home (M-29). As I was crossing the St. Clair/Marysville border, it began to rain, hard. You could see it coming down in sheets and just blowing across the road. It got to the point where I could barely see the road or the car in front of me.

Several cars even pulled off the road since the winds and rain was blowing so hard. I saw pieces of tree limbs and leaves flying through the air everywhere. There were boxes flying in the air 30 feet high as I drove by the construction sight for the new Chrysler building. I had to hold the steering wheel with both hands just to keep control of my car. I was in a hurry to get home to make sure my car and dog were alright. The skies were dark, yet the air had a yellowish tint to it. I thought for sure there was a tornado in the area or there would be one soon. But, by the time I got to St. Clair, the storm had already passed; it had left its mark though.

Where M-29 opens up from 2 to four lanes in St. Clair, there were several large tree limbs in the middle of the road, causing motorists to drive around them. All the streets in town were covered with debris from trees. Luckily my house and my dog were safe and sound and I even still had electricity. On the other side of town, and the intersection of King Road and Fred Moore Highway, the traffic signals had actually fallen down onto a car.

The signals were actually hanging on both sides of the bar. The passengers were stuck in their car though because wires were all over their car. They had to wait for fire fighters to arrive to remove the wires. Down the road from my house, about 2 blocks, a limb from a giant oak tree fell onto a neighbors oak tree which then toppled over just missing the homeowner's garage. The trees did take down some power lines though. DTE is unable to get to the wires until the trees are removed. Since DTE is so overloaded with fixing power outages after the storms from this weekend, the homeowners decided to get a room at a local hotel for a couple of nights.

According to the Times Herald, nobody was injured from this strong storm that moved through the area, just trees and buildings. On DTE's website, they estimate between 101-1000 people in the St. Clair and Port Huron areas to be out of power, each. More storms are supposed to move through the area tonight.