Weather service issues tornado watch for southern Michigan, Metro Detroit

Much of southern Michigan and Metro Detroit are under a tornado watch the National Weather Service issued Wednesday.

The watch is in effect until 4 p.m. and covers the southern part of the state from Kent County in the west to Wayne County in the east and north to Saginaw County, the agency said. It also covers parts of northern Indiana and Ohio.

A watch means the risk of hazardous weather has increased significantly, but when and where it could happen is uncertain.

In addition to tornadoes, the watch said hail and scattered wind gusts of up to 70 mph are possible.

"Numerous clusters of storms are expected to move southwest to northeast at about 50-60 mph with the main window for severe weather between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.," they said.

In Macomb Township, lightning struck a house early Wednesday morning in the 24000 block of Arrowhead Drive near 23 Mile and Fairchild roads in Macomb Township and set it ablaze, the township's Fire Chief Robert Phillips said. He said his department was called to the home at about 3:40 a.m. Wednesday to put out the fire.

A crew of 15 extinguished the fire in a couple of hours, Phillips said. It's not clear how much it will cost to repair the damage, he said. About 40% of the home was damaged.

"A storm system went through and lightning struck the home," he said. "The home's owner told us he heard a loud boom and then heard some noises that didn't sound right to him. He looked out his home's windows and saw smoke and flames near the sliding door of the patio at the back of the house."

The fire chief said the homeowner is a retired firefighter who worked in another community and quickly got his wife out of the house. "He told us the flames were through the roof," Phillips said.

No injuries among the residents or the firefighters were reported, he said.

Phillips said it's not that unusual for lightning to strike houses. "It's a common occurrence," he said. "Lightning takes the tallest objects and in a subdivision where a lot of trees have been taken down, the tallest object it can find is usually one of the metal vents on a house's roof."

In preparation for Wednesday's storms, the regional water authority is asking its customers to be on high alert because a total of 0.5 inches of rainfall is possible.

"The regional system is near capacity given recent heavy rain events and is actively being drained," Navid Mehram, chief operating officer, wastewater operating services, for the Great Lakes Water Authority said Tuesday in a statement. "However, it is working as designed and has the capacity to handle the expected flows into the system."

"GLWA is asking residents in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding during heavy rainfall to remain vigilant and out of an abundance of caution, to remove items of value from their basements."

The possibility of severe weather comes just days after a tornado hit Dundee, Michigan.

Meanwhile, Wednesday's high temperature in Detroit is expected to reach 74 degrees and a low of 42 degrees.

Extended Detroit forecast

Thursday: Partly sunny; high 55, low 36.

Friday: Sunny; high 52, low 34.

Saturday: Mostly sunny; high 50, low 37.

Sunday: Sunny; high 60, low 46.

Monday: Mostly sunny; high 68, low 52.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny; high 74.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CharlesERamirez