Flash Flooding and Hail in Michigan, May 18 to 19, 2000

A cold front moved slowly south across southeast Michigan on the morning and afternoon of the 18th. Thunderstorms developed along and ahead of the front. A number of these became severe, producing marginally severe hail. The largest hail report was half-dollar sized in Clarkston.The storms produced a healthy amount of lightning. A strike in Saline caused fire damage to a home there. At Detroit Metro Airport, lightning struck the steel superstructure of a new terminal under construction. Nine workers were injured when the bolt struck, and two required an overnight hospital stay.At the tail end of the episode, a stray thunderstorm wind gust downed a large tree at Braeburn Golf Course in Salem. The tree fell on a golfer, and he died of his injuries while being transported to the University of Michigan Hospital.The storms also produced quite a bit of rainfall. The highest rainfall amount, 4 inches, was recorded in the city of Monroe. Small creeks and streams, and urban areas, saw some flooding develop in the afternoon. Flood waters lingered into the next morning, with some rutting of rural roads, and flooding of yards along the smaller creeks. Minor river flooding also resulted over the next few days (see below).