DETROIT (WWJ) -- A line of strong thunderstorms weakened a bit as it moved into Metro Detroit late Tuesday morning, leaving heavy rains as the biggest threat in local communities.
WWJ's Beth Fisher earlier reported this weather system packed a wallop when it hit West Michigan, where wind gusts reached over 50 mph, with more than 148,000 homes and businesses left without power.
Consumer Energy spokesperson Katie Carey said there are hundreds of downed power lines in West Michigan, urging the public to stay at least 20 feet away from them.
Most of the outages are in the Grand Rapids and Muskegon areas, but there are outages in mid, southern and northern Michigan.
CHECK THE CONSUMERS OUTAGE MAP
Due to concerns about the weather, officials said the gates for the Rocket Mortgage Classic Community Day at the Detroit Golf Club would be delayed, opening at 1 p.m.
"Thankfully none of these thunderstorms right now are actually being warned as severe, but that doesn't mean they're not packing a punch," WWJ AccuWeather Meteorologist Joe Lundberg, as the system moved into Metro Detroit at around 9 a.m.
"There's been some wind gusts of 30 to 40 MPH and I think that that'll be the nature as the, this initial line comes through. And then after that, it's all gonna be about the rain," he said. "There could be an inch of rain, inch and a half of rain because there's behind the initial line of strong thunderstorms, there's what we call anvil rain. In other words, just heavy rain that's lingering behind these thunderstorms."
The National Weather Service canceled a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Metro Detroit, but noted we could see some potentially damaging winds.
By noon, DTE Energy was reporting a little over 10,000 outages.
CHECK THE DTE OUTAGE MAP
With all this rain, Metro Detroiters were urged to prepare for localized flooding.
Great Lakes Water Authority Chief Operating Officer, Wastewater Operating Services, Navid Mehram is asking residents, especially those who have dealt with flooding before, to be on high alert with possible local heavy rainfall over the next two days.
Total rainfall is expected to be between 1.0-1.5 inches across the Metro Detroit region, with several heavy/intense bursts of rain anticipated during this time.
Mehram said GLWA regional system is working as designed, and currently has capacity to handle the expected flows into the system.
GLWA is asking residents in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding during heavy rainfall to remain vigilant and out of an abundance of caution, to remove items of value from their basements. It is also helpful if residents do not run their washing machines and dishwashers during heavy rain events, Mehram said.
Lundberg said the rain should stop with the skies staying mostly cloudy in Metro Detroit Tuesday afternoon, with a popup thunderstorm still possible into the overnight hours. The high on Tuesday will be around 83 degrees.
On Wednesday, AccuWeather is calling for clouds with some sunny breaks in Detroit and the suburbs, with a leftover shower or thunderstorm possible; especially in the early afternoon, and a high of 76.
Lundberg said the sunshine should return on Thursday, with the high again around 76 degrees.
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