8 dead in severe storms, tornadoes; forecast warns of more danger

At least eight people died in the United States over two days when tornadoes struck Oklahoma and southern Michigan on March 5 - 6, and the National Weather Service warns more severe weather is possible on Saturday, March 7.

A weather service team is expected to head out on the morning of March 7 to survey damage from a tornado-producing storm that ripped across a 50 mile stretch of southern Michigan on March 6, leaving four dead.

A swath of damage was reported across parts of Cass, Branch and St. Joseph counties, from Edwardsburg through Three Rivers and into Union City, the weather service reported. At least one large, “extremely dangerous” tornado was confirmed in Three Rivers, Michigan, based on preliminary reports from trained storm spotters, emergency officials and public videos, according to the weather service.

Later in the evening on March 6, a tornado struck a home north-northeast of Beggs, Oklahoma killing two people, reported Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddie Rice. It was the second pair of deaths reported in Oklahoma in a little over 24 hours.

Severe storms, big temperature changes in weather forecast

About 90 million people across the nation from Texas to New York are at some risk of severe weather on March 7 as a cold front moves through the eastern U.S., the weather service's Storm Prediction Center warned.

On Saturday, March 7, the Weather Prediction Center warned of widespread showers and thunderstorms from an eastward cold front in the Great Lakes and Texas. 

Parts of the lower Great Lakes and upper Ohio Valley have risks of a few tornadoes with damaging winds on Saturday, according to the center’s forecast. Meanwhile, the lower Mississippi Valley and Texas could see excessive rainfall that could produce flash flooding, while there is risk of large hail and damaging winds.

By Saturday evening and overnight, showers and thunderstorms are projected to move to the East Coast, from New England down to the Southeast. The southern portion of the front could linger in the Southeast, into Texas, creating more chances for showers and thunderstorms on March 8 and into March 9.

On Sunday, the Midwest and Northeast are set to see temperatures climb as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit, according to AccuWeather, which the Weather Prediction Center called "anomalous warmth” in the eastern United States. Temperatures in Pittsburgh could reach as high as the 70s, while New Yorkers could see at least the mid-60s. AccuWeather said it could be the warmest day in New York City since early November.

Tornado warnings and a path of death and destruction in Michigan

The first tornado warning in southern Michigan – for central Cass County and northwestern St. Joseph County – was issued at 3:14 p.m., effective until 3:45 p.m. on March 6. At that point, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located on radar near Cassopolis.

Damage was first reported between Niles and Edwardsburg in Cass County at 3:34 p.m., where Sheriff Clint Roach later said one fatality and several injuries occurred. Multiple large structures, including homes and pole barns, sustained either major damage or total destruction, the county reported.

Minutes later, to the northeast, videos showed a tornado ripping a portion of the roof off a Menard’s store, hurling large pieces of debris high into the air and damaging a neighboring storage unit. The second warning was issued at 3:52 p.m., around the same time the tornado was seen in Three Rivers.

And then, about 25 miles to the northeast, damage also was reported on the north side of Union Lake in Union City, in Branch County. Three people died and a dozen were injured in Branch County, according to the Sheriff's office. Of the 12 injured, three were taken to local hospitals, county officials said on the night of March 6.

Whether the damage was inflicted by a single tornado or others will be determined by the survey, which could take up to two days to complete, depending on the scope of the damage, the weather service said. The damage path may not be continuous, because the tornado likely lifted and cycled at least once, said meteorologist Maddi Johnson with the Northern Indiana weather service office, which includes part of southern Michigan.

Six hours after the storm, a few thousand homes across the three counties remained without electricity.

In St. Joseph County, the Sheriff's Office advised people to avoid traveling to or through locations in the city of Three Rivers, areas to the east and northeast of the community and to the west in Fabius Township. The sheriff's office also advised people to avoid damaged structures and structures that had been marked by emergency personnel.

How many tornado fatalities in 2026?

If all of the deaths in the storms are confirmed, it would take the total for the year to eight.

On March 5, a woman and her daughter were killed when their van was struck by a tornado near Fairview, Oklahoma.

Their deaths were the first since June last year, ending the nation's second-longest streak – 256 days – on record with no reported tornado fatalities in the United States, Evan Bentley, a warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service's Storm Prediction Center posted on X. The longest streak with no deaths was 284 days between May 16, 2017 and February 24, 2018.

The U.S. has averaged about 68 tornado-related fatalities a year over the past three years.

How many tornadoes were reported on March 5 - 7?

At least six tornadoes have been reported over March 5 - 6. Four were reported in Oklahoma on March 5, including an EF2 near Fairview, an EF1 in Cleo Springs, an EF2 with damage in Helena, in Alfalfa County and a fourth south of Wakita in Grant County, the weather service said.

Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas

Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about violent weather, climate change and other news. Reach her at [email protected] or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.