COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Severe Weather Awareness Week is still a couple of weeks away but Mother Nature decided not to wait Tuesday night.
A line of severe thunderstorms that the National Weather Service said were capable of producing a tornado and straight line winds led to the issuing of a tornado warning for Branch County just before 10:00 p.m.
Radar also indicated rotation but the storms which prompted warning weakened below severe limits and the warning was allowed to expire at 10:30 p.m.
Two trees were damaged at the intersection of Manor Road and Palmer Street south of Colon. One tree was snapped about halfway up, the other was broken at the base. A nearby tree was also knocked down onto a car.
Storm reports included a 43 mile per hour wind gust at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday morning at the Branch County Memorial Airport as the storms continued into the wee hours of the morning.
A National Weather Service observer in Camden reported hail an inch-and-a-half in diameter.
The storms knocked out power to nearly 200 Consumers Energy customers in Branch County, mostly in the Union City and Sherwood areas.
