Southeastern Michigan is returning to colder conditions to start the week after isolated pockets of intense wind downed trees, power lines and sheds in Monroe and parts of Wayne counties during severe storms Saturday.
The National Weather Service was surveying the area Sunday to determine whether storms developed into a tornado near Belleville, meteorologist Megan Varcie said. Less than an inch of rain was reported.
No injuries have been reported, said Varcie, who asked residents to contact the weather service with information about damage caused by the storm.
About 14,000 customers lost power because of high winds Saturday, DTE Energy spokesperson Colleen Rosso said. Nearly 1,200 DTE customers were without power as of noon Sunday, and Rosso said the company expects to restore power to them within hours.
Saturday’s storms were caused by air from Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair moving inland, Varcie said. She said brief spinoffs are common when air from different areas collides.
Heavy rain and flooding in southwest Michigan forced Amtrak to cancel Sunday train rides between Grand Rapids and Chicago. The National Weather Service on Sunday issued flood watches and warnings for rivers throughout the lower peninsula.
Temperatures in Metro Detroit will be below average for the next several days, Varcie said, with projected lows in the 30s and 40s and overnight lows in the 20s Tuesday and Wednesday. Quickly melting snow is possible Sunday and Monday, she said.
Chilly weather follows above-average temperatures Friday, when Detroit celebrated Opening Day and highs in the 70s.
Varcie said it’s normal for the weather to vary during Michigan springs, when “the atmosphere basically can’t decide if it wants to have cold air from Canada moving in or this warmed air from the south and moisture from the Gulf.”
“And so what that does is that puts us in these very unstable, unsettled conditions where we’re fluctuating temperatures all the time,” Varcie said. “And that makes the atmosphere out of balance, which is what causes us to have all this severe weather and thunderstorms.”
Warmer weather is expected to return Wednesday.
sballentine@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Cold moves into southeast Michigan after storms
Reporting by Summer Ballentine, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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