Tornado with peak winds of 85 mph touched down Friday in Thumb, weather service says

National Weather Service officials confirmed Saturday that a tornado touched down in the Thumb region Friday afternoon as rain, thunder and hail swept through southeast Michigan, flooding streets, damaging property and downing trees.

The EF-0 twister was on the ground between 3:24 p.m. and 3:35 p.m. in Lexington, which is in Sanilac County, weather officials said. The tornado had peak winds of up to 85 mph with a path width of 475 yards and length of 4.9 miles.

The weather service said numerous trees were downed across the region and several homes had damage to siding due to wind-blown hail.

"The tornado touched down southeast of Applegate and tracked southeast through Townsend Road and Wixson Road," the weather service said. "The main damage in this area was large snapped tree limbs and crop damaged."

"The track continued moving to southeast crossing M-25 into Sanilac County Lexington Park where additional large tree limbs were downed and one snapped small softwood tree. One of the larger tree limbs fell onto a camper in the park. The track of the tornado then exited into Lake Huron," the agency reported.

An EF-0 tornado is on the weaker side, measuring speeds between 65-85 mph, according to the NWS.

Earlier Saturday, crews surveyed various damage indicators such as building structures, trees and fields to determine the severity of strong wings that charged through portions of the state.

"One of the keys things they look for — whether its wind damage or tornado damage — is the direction of the winds," said Ian Lee, a meteorologist with the NWS in White Lake Township. "If (indicators) are blown down more of in a straight direction, that's more indicative it was a downburst or straight-line wind damage. If they see more of convergence signature, that's more indicative of a tornado."

After isolated severe thunderstorms moved through the region Friday afternoon and evening, gusts up to 60 mph coupled with one-inch hail were reported, according to weather service officials.

Radar showed very strong, low-level rotation during a storm across central Sanilac County in Michigan's Thumb region between 3:30 and 3:35 p.m., NWS meteorologist Steve Considine said on Friday. Two tornado warnings were issued for Sanilac County on Friday, one from 2:16 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. and one from 3:16 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. as a storm passed over.

Throughout the afternoon and evening on Friday, a strong line of storms passed through parts of southern Wayne County, Monroe County and Lenawee County.

In Rochester, an early evening storm downed a tree on University Drive and left piles of hail in the grass.

On Thursday, the weather service confirmed a tornado touched down late Wednesday in southwest Michigan after strong winds and storms swept through the state, damaging property, crops and trees.

Just before 5 p.m.. Saturday, about 2,400 customers were without power in Michigan, with roughly 450 field resources working towards restoration, according to DTE's outage map.

Periodic showers and thunderstorms also are expected to develop early Saturday across Metro Detroit, with temperatures of upper 70s, the weather service said on Twitter. Low thunderstorm chances continue Sunday and Monday, with highs in the lower-mid 80s.