Tornadoes Kill 6 in Michigan, Oklahoma, Signal Early Storms for Florida

Suspected tornadoes killed six people across Michigan and Oklahoma on Friday, including a 12-year-old boy, as a powerful early-season storm system flattened homes, toppled trees and left authorities searching debris for additional victims.

The National Weather Service confirmed an EF3 tornado with winds of at least 150 mph struck the Union Lake area near Union City, Michigan. Three people were killed and 12 injured there, according to the Branch County Sheriff's Office. About 50 miles southwest, a 12-year-old boy identified as Silas Anderson died after his parents found him injured following a possible tornado in Cass County, the county sheriff's office said. In Beggs, Oklahoma, roughly 30 miles south of Tulsa, two people died in a house when a tornado cut a roughly four-mile path through Okmulgee County, according to the county sheriff's office. The National Weather Service reported seven preliminary tornado tracks in eastern Oklahoma the same day.

For Treasure Coast residents, the outbreak carries a direct warning as Florida enters the same volatile spring weather pattern that fueled these storms. NOAA forecasters have flagged an active severe weather season for much of the eastern United States, and Florida — particularly inland St. Lucie and Martin counties — regularly contends with tornado threats spawned by early-spring squall lines moving off the Gulf. According to available information,

NWS meteorologist Lonnie Fisher said severe thunderstorms that began in northern Indiana intensified rapidly after crossing into southern Michigan. "Most likely there were three distinct tornadoes, but we won't know 100% for sure until they finish the survey," Fisher said. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would declare a state of emergency in Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt declared a state of emergency in several Oklahoma counties. The Oklahoma deaths came a day after storms killed a woman and her 13-year-old daughter in their vehicle in Fairview, in western Oklahoma.

Tornado watches were posted Saturday afternoon for eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania and New York, according to the National Weather Service, as the threat of severe weather continued across the nation's midsection.

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