(LANSING) - Governor Gretchen Whitmer is asking for a Federal investigation into why no tornado watch was issued before deadly storms hit Southwest Michigan Friday.
According to the Detroit News, Whitmer is asking whether the lack of any tornado watch by the National Weather Service, was in any way caused by the Trump administration's cuts at the agency.
Whitmer spokeswoman Stacey LaRouche says the National Weather Service exists to monitor conditions and inform Americans of severe weather in their communities. The fact that they did not issue a tornado watch is troubling, especially with the loss of life in Michigan. LaRouche says while tornadoes can be hard to predict, the federal government should investigate whether the failure to issue a watch was related to federal cuts.
Friday's storms produced tornadoes that touched down in Three Rivers, Union City and Edwardsburg, killed four people including a 12 year old boy, and left 22 people injured.
A number of tornado warnings were issued, as well as a number of severe thunderstorm warnings and watches around the state. But no tornado watch was issued on Friday night in Southwest Michigan.
Marissa Anderson, a National Weather Service spokesperson says at the moment Tornado Watch issuance was being considered, warnings were already in progress for the existing storm, and it was anticipated that the risk was only with this storm. Anderson says the storm was expected to weaken soon and thus not warrant a Watch. Although a Watch was not issued, local forecasters continuously monitored the evolving weather situation and issued specific Tornado Warnings to alert communities of the immediate threat.
Bill Bunting Deputy Director of the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center says that a tornado watch was not issued in Friday's storms because the conditions that produced the tornadoes were highly localized and difficult to detect in advance.