L'ANSE, MICH. (WWJ) - Residents in the northwestern parts of the Upper Peninsula were pelted with massive hail when strong storms moved through the area just after midnight on Tuesday.
L'Anse resident Jillian Kowalczuk told WWJ that she was keeping track of the storms when they rolled in around 12:27 a.m.
“When it hit, it was sudden, the rain was pouring down hard, wind gusts were incredibly powerful,” Kowalczuk said.
The National Weather Service in Marquette warned the storm system blowing through Baraga County could produce hail up to two inches in diameter, but Kowalczuk couldn’t believe what she saw when she looked out in her yard.
Large, almost baseball-sized hail had reportedly come pounding down – the pellets were so big Kowalczuk said she felt uncomfortable running outside to get a closer look.
“As soon as the hail stopped I grabbed the largest piece within a five-foot radius of my door and booked it back inside,” she said.
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While she only saw a slight dent in the hood of her vehicle from the storm, Kowalczuk said other areas in Baraga County did not escape unscathed.
"I have been taking to people all morning and heard about some serious damage," she said. As her UPS driver delivered a package earlier, he told Kowalczuk the hail punched a 2" hole through his garage.
"There were reports of multiple trees at Bayshore and Pequaming Road," Kowalczuk added. "But fortunately for us, I don't see much damage in my neighborhood."
The northern Michigan diner and drive in theater, Baraga Drive In, confirmed on social media Tuesday morning that they were closed to clean up damage from the storm.
Meterologist Matt Zika with the NWS in Negaunee told WWJ he's only seen hail this large two or three times in his 20 years in the U.P.
"It definitely was a very unusual storm," Zika explained. "As it formed, it kind of split over O and it was actually a west moving supercell that was rotating anti-cyclonically so it like maybe 1% of all supercells rotate opposite of what we're used to seeing with the counter clockwise circulation."
Kowalczuk echoed Zika, telling WWJ that longtime locals said the weather has been very strange for the area.
A.J. Mastrangelo, a meteorologist with WZMQ, said on social media the Marquette area had issued 52 severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in 2022 so far.
In comparison, only 60 warnings were issued in all of 2021.
The NWS said they would be assessing the damage from Tuesday morning's storm throughout most of the day.
A risk for severe weather remains for portions of the western U.P. and the greater Marquette area on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the NWS said.
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