By LISA M. HOFFMANN
Staff Writer
IRON MOUNTAIN - A funnel cloud was reported in Norway during the thunderstorm that hit the area Tuesday night.
Dave Guenther, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said the agency received a report from law enforcement in Norway of a funnel cloud.
Guenther said there was also "treating," which is when storms follow one another over an area.
The NWS reported there was tree damage in Norway where several large oak trees were uprooted. Also in Norway, yard and lawn furniture were overturned and there were power outages and telephone lines down.
"The main thing was the very heavy rains; 3.8 inches of rain was reported overnight at Foster City and five miles north of Iron Mountain 2.5 inches of rain was reported," Guenther said. "There was lots of heavy rains with this."
As far as high winds, the Weather Service reported 38 mph winds at Ford Airport in Kingsford and 48 mph winds reported in Delta County.
National Weather Service storm surveyors will view the damage in the Iron Mountain and Norway area today.
Amber Stanchina of Norway said the storm on Tuesday uprooted a shed at her house on Seventh Avenue.
"I didn't see anything, but it sounded like a freight train coming through," she said. "We had a shed on the side of our driveway that was uprooted. The frame and everything was taken out of the ground, and we have no idea where it is. Trees are down everywhere here."
Stanchina added that all the contents in the shed are still on her property.
"We had it (the shed) bolted down with cement screws and the screws are still in the ground," she said. "Neighbors lost a trampoline, a fence, you name it, it's on the road. A neighbor saw a funnel going up and down and thought he saw a shed go over his house. There was a lot of destruction."
Fred Smith, captain of the Norway Police Department, confirmed there were many trees down in Norway and lawn furniture blown around.
"There were high winds that hit here at approximately 8:30 p.m. with some damage done to some large trees and personal property and a couple residences and out buildings," he said.
Although Norway did receive hard rains and some high winds, Smith was not able to confirm if the storm was a tornado or not.
"The officer did see something that resembled a funnel cloud," Smith said. "The heaviest affected area was a quarter-mile by quarter-mile in the Third Ward - Seventh and Eighth Avenues - on the east side of U.S. 2."
Smith said he saw a lot of lightning with the storm.
Iron Mountain Police and Kingsford Public Safety reported several trees were downed from the storm that occurred Tuesday night.
In Iron Mountain, police reported a tree down in the 500 block of West B Street at 8:22 p.m. Then at 8:34 p.m., several trees were reported down and all over the road by the Crystal Lake Community Center.
Police added there were also trees down in the 1,000 block of West C Street and at 9:53 p.m. a tree down in the 800 block of West Brown Street.
A large amount of water was reported on U.S. 2 near the Comfort Inn, and there were several reports of flooding on U.S. 2 at 8:41 p.m.
Kingsford Public Safety also reported two vehicles - one on Lexington and one on Cleveland - had trees land on them.
There was also flooding on Marquette Boulevard in the Kingsford Heights and a tree down on Wilson Avenue and South Park Street. No damage was reported with those downed trees.
Trees and a few power lines were down throughout Florence County. Officials said that there was no serious damage reported.
No one was injured in the storm as everyone faired the weather.
"We are not looking for any more storms this week. It will be fairly quiet," Guenther said.