Hail and Lightning Strikes in Michigan, May 11, 2000

Low pressure in the plains sent warm, moist air north into the Great Lakes. With the main warm front still well to the south, surface temperatures stayed cool; the warm, moist air was aloft. Thunderstorms developed in the afternoon, and fed off the juicy air above the surface. Because the atmosphere at the surface was cool and stable, no strong winds were observed with any of the storms. However, the strongest storms produced marginally severe hail.Lightning was an even larger threat. Lightning struck at a soccer field on Six Mile Road near Haggerty in Northville. A group was heading off the field as the storm approached, but some did not make it. Several adults and children were knocked off their feet by the struck, but only one - a twelve year old boy - required hospitalization. Later in the evening, lightning struck a tree in Dearborn Heights. A large limb broke off, and struck a man working nearby. He was hospitalized with a collapsed lung and several broken bones.