Latest news, weather, high school sports for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

MARQUETTE (AP) -- Southern lower Michigan is getting stormy weather and watching what could become the third round of severe weather in less than a week.  Meanwhile, heavy storms rolled across a large portion of the Upper Peninsula Wednesday morning.

The day began with severe thunderstorm warnings for Gogebic, Iron and Dickinson counties.  Heavy rains hit the Marquette County area after 7 a.m.   The hardest hit areas, though, were in the southern U.P.

Residents in Gogebic County were told to be on alert for flooding, as the area had picked up several inches of rain through the early part of the day.  By mid-morning, the warnings had been lifted, despite some rain continuing.

Thunderstorm watches and warnings remained for parts of the Lower Peninsula on Wednesday morning as heavy thunderstorms moved through.

Meteorologist Steve Freitag at the National Weather Service office in White Lake Township says the first storm batch has been weakening, though it knocked down power lines in Branch County.

The weather service is watching a round of thunderstorms expected Wednesday evening that he says could produce strong, damaging winds.

A storm Friday blacked out 252,000 utility customers in southern lower Michigan and was responsible for at least one death.  A second storm Tuesday included hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph.

Visit Upper Michigan's Source weather page for your end of the week and weekend forecast.

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