Sault Ste. Marie

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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 Chippewa County, the county that contains Sault Ste. Marie.

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 Chippewa County, the county that contains Sault Ste. Marie.

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 Chippewa County, the county that contains Sault Ste. Marie.

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. Jul 3, 1999Waterspout$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Waterspout damaged boat house and storage building on a marina dock.

2. May 11, 2011High Wind, Chippewa$140,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wake low, trailing well behind a large area of thunderstorms, producing damaging winds near Sault Ste Marie. A gust of 55 mph was measured at Sanderson Field in the Sault. Over two dozen trees were downed along South Mackinac Trail, and scattered trees were downed elsewhere in the area. A tree fell onto a home in the Sault. Several roofs had shingles removed, and two billboards along I-75 sustained heavy damage. A garage and barn were damaged a few miles southeast of the Sault.

3. Sep 10, 2013Flash Flood$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Radar estimated that 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in a few hours beginning late in the evening of the 9th, resulting in flash flood in the pre-dawn hours of the 10th. A number of roads were washed out and/or otherwise rendered impassable, in some cases for several days. West Shore Drive, and 1 1/2 Mile Road, were among the roads that suffered considerable damage.

4. Dec 29, 2019Winter Storm, Central Chippewa County$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong and complex low pressure system crossed the southern Great Lakes on the 30th. In northern lower Michigan, most of this precipitation fell as rain, though there was quick transition to snow on the morning of the 30th, along with briefly heavy snowfall rates. The most substantial wintry precipitation was in eastern upper Michigan, with significant accumulations of snow and freezing rain in some areas. Curtis had around 10 inches of snowfall by the evening of the 30th. Meanwhile, some interior sections of western and central Chippewa County likely had over half an inch of ice accumulation. Numerous trees were downed, blocking roadways and causing power outages.

5. Mar 2, 2012Heavy Snow, Chippewa$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One of the highest-impact snowstorms in recent memory pounded Northern Michigan on the night of the 2nd. Low pressure tracked from Missouri, to southern Lower Michigan, and on to eastern Canada, while rapidly strengthening. Precipitation surged northward into the region on the evening of the 2nd. This was primarily snow, except in parts of east central Lower Michigan (especially near Lake Huron), where temperatures were mild enough for rain. Snow wound down on the morning of the 3rd, and though somewhat blustery winds occurred behind the system on the 3rd, blowing snow was limited because the snowfall was so wet.|Snow totals ranged from 6 to 14 inches across most of Northern…

6. Nov 13, 2003Blizzard, Chippewa$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low pressure intensified rapidly as it moved through and east of the northern Great Lakes region. Winds rapidly increased behind a cold front passage on the evening of the 12th, with numerous wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. Some of the highest gusts: 62 mph at Pellston (129 am on the 13th), 61 mph at Charlevoix (1014 pm on the 12th), 56 mph at Harbor Springs (1234 am on the 13th) and Oscoda (256 am on the 13th), 77 mph at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (1108 pm on the 12th). The highest wind gust in the region was 79 mph at the Presque Isle Lighthouse (548 am on the 13th). Spotters reported wind gusts in excess of 55 mph at Manistee, Northport, and Ossineke. The winds…

7. Nov 13, 2005High Wind, Chippewa$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines downed. Utility poles snapped. Some roofs lost shingles. Business signs and billboards blown over. 62 mph gust measured at Point Iroquois.

8. Jun 11, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dozens of trees were downed and/or uprooted. A camper was moved. Some damage to shingles near Pickford.

9. Sep 4, 2014High Wind, Chippewa$26,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees were downed in central Chippewa County, mainly 10 miles either side of I-75. Power outages were widespread. Two heavy rabbit hutches were blown over.

10. Dec 29, 2019Winter Storm, Western Chippewa County$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A strong and complex low pressure system crossed the southern Great Lakes on the 30th. In northern lower Michigan, most of this precipitation fell as rain, though there was quick transition to snow on the morning of the 30th, along with briefly heavy snowfall rates. The most substantial wintry precipitation was in eastern upper Michigan, with significant accumulations of snow and freezing rain in some areas. Curtis had around 10 inches of snowfall by the evening of the 30th. Meanwhile, some interior sections of western and central Chippewa County likely had over half an inch of ice accumulation. Numerous trees were downed, blocking roadways and causing power outages.

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

98°F2 times, most recently Aug 6, 1947

All-time low

−37°FFeb 8, 1934

Warmest night

72°FJul 26, 2020

Coldest day

−12°F2 times, most recently Jan 15, 1994

Wettest day

5.92 inAug 3, 1974

Snowiest day

26.6 inDec 10, 1995

Hottest year

2024mean 46.9°F

Coldest year

1950mean 37.7°F

Wettest year

201348.78 in

Driest year

200022.40 in

Snowiest season

222.0 in1995-96

Station Sault Ste Marie Sanderson Field (USW00014847), 721 ft elevation, 0.6 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1931 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 Chippewa 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 USW00014847.
• 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.