Severe storm moves through Southeast Michigan as wildfire smoke clears out

A severe storm swept through Southeast Michigan on Saturday afternoon after wildfire smoke cleared out of the area.

The National Weather Service said wind gusts of 41 mph were measured at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Michigan, amid the storm, and there have since been reports of several trees and tree limbs down in Lapeer, Macomb and St. Clair counties.

There were also reports of large tree branches and wires down across 32 Mile Road, near Hartway Road, in Armada, Michigan, the federal agency said.

Several vendor tents at the Blake Farms Lavender Festival in Armada were left in disarray after the storm, according to Brittany Schwartz, a participant at the event.

"It came in out of nowhere and lasted about 20 minutes," Schwartz, who was vending for Detroit Gluten Free Bee Bakery and Apothra, said. "It took multiple people to hold down the tents."

Over 9,000 Southeast Michigan residents were without power early Saturday evening following the storm, according to DTE Energy's outage map.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for Lenawee, Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne counties until 8 p.m., the federal agency said.

Some smoke may drift back overhead behind the front Saturday night.

Sunday is one to watch for a risk of more smoke moving in.

While the numbers are still expected to rise, the overall smoke risk is much improved compared to what we've already seen.

Expect some air quality impacts, but for now, Southeast Michigan should remain on the lower end of the scale rather than the top spot.

The NEXT Weather Team will continue to track both the smoke and storm risk through the weekend ahead.