BRANCH COUNTY, MI (WTVB) – The first severe weather of the season pelted Branch County and the surrounding area on Friday night.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued at around 8:00 p.m. for Branch County due to heavy rain, lightning and hail.
There were reports of hail at least a inch in diameter in Sturgis, Hillsdale, and near Clear Lake, Indiana.
A National Weather Service spotter reported golf ball sized hail at the intersection of Bogen Road and South Centreville Street southwest of Sturgis.
There were other reports in the Sturgis area of hail stones the size of ping pong balls.
Strong winds were also reported before midnight. One spotter measured a 60 mph wind gust at Olds and Union City Roads. A 67 mph wind gust was reported at Lake James in Steuben County.
Along with hail, some areas got more than two inches of rain Friday night.
The Michigan State University Extension Service weather station at the Bloom Dairy Farm measured 41-hundredths of an inch of rain between 11:00 p.m. and midnight. Just under a inch of rain was measured there on Friday which the March total of precipitation up to 4.03 inches.
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