East Lansing

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.

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 Ingham County, the county that contains East Lansing.

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 Ingham County, the county that contains East Lansing.

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 Ingham County, the county that contains East Lansing.

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.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 24, 2023Tornado$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved east northeast and onto I-96 where it remained for around 1.5 miles before turning southeast. The tornado crossed M-52 South of I-96 where it remained just south of I-96 until it crossed into Livingston County after Wallace Road north of Van Orden Road. The tornado briefly continued in Livingston County before lifting near Van Buren Road west of Nicholson Road. EF-2 damage occurred near and along I-96 with hundreds of trees snapped, several outbuildings heavily damaged and a few homes|having roof, siding and window damage. The tornado resulted in 2 deaths and 3 injuries of persons in vehicles on I-96. Both people killed were travelling west as the tornado was…

2. Oct 18, 2007Tornado$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey was conducted in Ingham county following the tornado that occurred on the night of October 18th. Based on extensive damage to buildings and trees the tornado was rated EF-2 with top winds estimated between 120 and 130 mph.||The tornado began just northeast of Mason around 10:28 pm EDT and|moved northeast at 40 to 45 mph through the town of Williamston|between 10:40 and 10:45 pm. Approximately 100 structures were|damaged in a subdivision on the south side of Williamston. Two|fatalities occurred about 4 miles northeast of Williamston where a|modular home and its 2 occupants were flipped into a pond. The|tornado then moved into Shiawassee…

3. Aug 24, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported that many large trees and tree limbs and power lines were blown down.

4. Aug 24, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous reports of downed trees and tree limbs in and especially east to southeast and south of Lansing. One woman was killed when a tree fell onto her home.

5. Aug 24, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many reports of downed trees, branches and power lines were received from across Ingham county.

6. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Ingham$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Peak wind gusts in the 60 to 70 mph range resulted in numerous downed trees and limbs and power lines and widespread power outages.

7. Apr 17, 2013Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall caused significant flooding on rivers and streams across Ingham county.

8. Sep 9, 2001Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A F1 tornado with a path length of 8.5 miles, which was 300 yards wide, produced maximum wind speeds of 110 m.p.h. that caused extensive damage. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. The tornado touched down on Windsor Highway in Eaton county three quarters of a mile west of I-69. The tornado began as a F0 about 150 feet wide. The tornado moved northeast at about 40 m.p.h. and caused a considerable amount of tree damage, major damage to barns and outbuildings, and minor damage to homes. It crossed I-69 just south of Davis Highway, blowing over a semi trailer causing minor injuries. It began to strengthen and widen as it crossed Davis Highway, and numerous trees were blown…

9. Dec 21, 2013Ice Storm, Ingham$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A half to three quarters of an inch of ice accumulation occurred across nearly all of Ingham county, causing widespread power outages and downed trees, tree limbs and lines. Thousands of people did not have power restored until 5 to 6 days after the storm hit.

10. Jul 27, 2011Flash Flood$5.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Six to eight inches of rain fell across roughly the southwestern half of Ingham county from the late evening hours of July 27 through the early morning hours of July 29. This caused flash flooding and numerous road closures and washouts.||Water reached as high as street side mailboxes and to several homes on slabs in the Burchfield Drive neighborhood in Lansing, MI, where boat rescues were necessary. Many homes had 3 to 4 feet of water in their basements. At least five homes were destroyed in Lansing with several others uninhabitable according to the local fire department. Twenty additional homes suffered significant damage from water in Lansing and across Ingham County. One…

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

103°FJul 6, 2012

All-time low

−29°FJan 4, 1981

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Jun 22, 2025

Coldest day

−3°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

4.95 inJun 11, 1986

Snowiest day

15.4 inJan 26, 1967

Hottest year

2024mean 51.8°F

Coldest year

1972mean 44.7°F

Wettest year

201341.46 in

Driest year

196221.23 in

Snowiest season

88.8 in1951-52

Station Lansing Capital City Airport (USW00014836), 857 ft elevation, 6.2 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 99.9% 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 Ingham 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 USW00014836.
• 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.