Bay City

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Bay County, the county that contains Bay City.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Bay County, the county that contains Bay City.

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 1 gauge here but lists no crests for it.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Bay County, the county that contains Bay City.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Bay$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A non thunderstorm event took place over the state on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, as high winds brought wind gusts in excess of 60 mph! The high winds took out power lines and trees, along with numerous reports of structural damage to buildings. There were also reports of brush fires and tractor-trailers flipped over around the area. Due to the extensive damage, many areas were without power for several days. Approximately 800,000 DTE customers and approximately 300,000 Consumers Energy customers were affected. The highest wind gust reported across Southeast Michigan was 68 mph at both Saginaw and Detroit Metro Airport.

2. Jul 27, 2014Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful upper-level low pressure system dropped southward into the Great Lakes on Sunday July 27, sparking a good deal of severe thunderstorms in the warm, moist, and unstable air in advance of the system. Between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., severe weather affected nearly all of southeast Michigan. The initial storm that affected portions of Midland and Bay counties from around 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. was a prolific hail producer, with hail up to 3 diameter (greater than baseball size) recorded near Midland. Later, another particularly strong storm moved across Oakland County between around 4:30 and 5:15 pm, dropping hail up to 2.50 diameter (tennis ball size) near the Highland/White Lake…

3. Jun 22, 2017Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five to eight inches of rain fell, leading to widespread significant flooding. 145 homes were damaged. 50 roads and bridges damaged or destroyed.

4. Jun 21, 1996Flash Flood$2.2 million
5. Jul 27, 2014Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful upper-level low pressure system dropped southward into the Great Lakes on Sunday July 27, sparking a good deal of severe thunderstorms in the warm, moist, and unstable air in advance of the system. Between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., severe weather affected nearly all of southeast Michigan. The initial storm that affected portions of Midland and Bay counties from around 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. was a prolific hail producer, with hail up to 3 diameter (greater than baseball size) recorded near Midland. Later, another particularly strong storm moved across Oakland County between around 4:30 and 5:15 pm, dropping hail up to 2.50 diameter (tennis ball size) near the Highland/White Lake…

6. Jul 27, 2014Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful upper-level low pressure system dropped southward into the Great Lakes on Sunday July 27, sparking a good deal of severe thunderstorms in the warm, moist, and unstable air in advance of the system. Between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., severe weather affected nearly all of southeast Michigan. The initial storm that affected portions of Midland and Bay counties from around 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. was a prolific hail producer, with hail up to 3 diameter (greater than baseball size) recorded near Midland. Later, another particularly strong storm moved across Oakland County between around 4:30 and 5:15 pm, dropping hail up to 2.50 diameter (tennis ball size) near the Highland/White Lake…

7. Jul 27, 2014Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful upper-level low pressure system dropped southward into the Great Lakes on Sunday July 27, sparking a good deal of severe thunderstorms in the warm, moist, and unstable air in advance of the system. Between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., severe weather affected nearly all of southeast Michigan. The initial storm that affected portions of Midland and Bay counties from around 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. was a prolific hail producer, with hail up to 3 diameter (greater than baseball size) recorded near Midland. Later, another particularly strong storm moved across Oakland County between around 4:30 and 5:15 pm, dropping hail up to 2.50 diameter (tennis ball size) near the Highland/White Lake…

8. Apr 15, 2018Lakeshore Flood, Bay$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lake shore flooding was reported in Bangor Township, with water reaching some homes.

9. Jul 27, 2014Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful upper-level low pressure system dropped southward into the Great Lakes on Sunday July 27, sparking a good deal of severe thunderstorms in the warm, moist, and unstable air in advance of the system. Between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., severe weather affected nearly all of southeast Michigan. The initial storm that affected portions of Midland and Bay counties from around 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. was a prolific hail producer, with hail up to 3 diameter (greater than baseball size) recorded near Midland. Later, another particularly strong storm moved across Oakland County between around 4:30 and 5:15 pm, dropping hail up to 2.50 diameter (tennis ball size) near the Highland/White Lake…

10. May 18, 2020Lakeshore Flood, Bay$2.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The water level at Essexville peaked at 70.60 above LWD at 1542 LST.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

111°FJul 13, 1936

All-time low

−23°FFeb 5, 1918

Warmest night

81°FJul 11, 1911

Coldest day

−4°FJan 18, 1994

Wettest day

6.93 inAug 10, 2012

Snowiest day

21.3 inMar 17, 1973

Hottest year

2024mean 51.9°F

Coldest year

1917mean 43.1°F

Wettest year

192843.36 in

Driest year

193417.56 in

Snowiest season

87.2 in1966-67

Station Saginaw Mbs International Airport (USW00014845), 662 ft elevation, 10.6 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1898 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Bay County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00014845.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.