Flash food watch in Metro Detroit ends as high wind and hail concerns diminish Thursday morning
Thursday morning thunderstorm threat drops slightly, heavy rains still on the way
The threat of severe weather has dropped slightly in Metro Detroit after heavy rain makers split off into the northeast and southwest sides of Michigan. But Metro Detroit could still see heavy rains between 1-3 inches - a potential problem for morning commuters.
Severe weather continues to be a threat early this morning but overall the high wind and hail concern is dropping a bit.
Rain and storms are still a possibility, especially between 6-8 a.m. Flooding now jumps to the top priority as we expect moderate rain to impact us in that window.
In the hours following evidence of the storm's diminishing threat, the National Weather Service retracted a flood watch for Metro Detroit counties after it had originally called one until 10 a.m. Thursday.
The strongest storms of the system railed through Wisconsin and Northern Illinois and are currently slamming Southwest Michigan and the Thumb Area.
Saginaw is also currently dealing with several clusters of very strong storms. This left Southeast Michigan in a zone of less energy and therefore less of a threat for the 60-plus mph winds.
That all said, we are not in the clear!
Rain will fall today between 6-10 a.m. which, if it gets heavy enough, could cause some flooding especially in already saturated areas (which, aren't we all saturated at this point?).
The chance for extremely strong storms is falling, however for us in Southeast Michigan.
The afternoon looks much drier and nicer!
Heading into the weekend we can finally plan on comfortable weather and a drier stretch.
Great Lakes Water Authority issues storm alert
The GLWA issued a warning Wednesday night asking residents to be on high alert over potential flooding from more storms.
While the agency described its system as "prepared and working as designed," it also said the amount of rain that's fallen recently has left its collection system "partially full" meaning its still draining water out of the system into treatment facilities.
RELATED: How to clean up, repair after recent flooding
The agency has added extra staff to the Conners Creek and Freud Pumps stations.
It looks like we escaped serious weather this time. Next time, we may not be so lucky. Make sure you have the FOX 2 News app on your phone downloaded for all the latest updates on traffic, storms, and news. It's free to all iPhone, iPad, and Android users.