Walker

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 Kent County, the county that contains Walker.

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 Kent County, the county that contains Walker.

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 Kent County, the county that contains Walker.

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. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$49.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Michigan State Police EMD's Damage and Injury Assessment Report indicated $4,336,751 in public damage costs, 53 injuries, 63 homes destroyed, 1196 homes damaged, 15 businesses destroyed, and 173 businesses damaged in Kent County, excluding the City of Grand Rapids (see separate Grand Rapids report). Private damage costs were estimated to be approximately $45.0 Million in the city of Walker alone. No other private damage costs were available from across the county. The storm damage was most severe in the cities of Rockford and Walker. Most city streets within the city limits of Rockford and Walker were left impassable. The city of Walker was closed to the public. Michigan State…

2. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Kent$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 64 mph peak wind gust was measured at the Gerald Ford airport in Grand Rapids. Peak wind gusts in the 60 to 70 mph range resulted in numerous downed trees and limbs and power lines and widespread power outages.

3. Apr 26, 2011Hail$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter fell in a one mile wide swath from Jamestown in extreme northeast Ottawa County through Kentwood and East Grand Rapids. The swath continued northeast towards Belding in northwest Ionia County. The swath was estimated based on the correlation of multiple spotter reports with maximum estimated hail size, NSSL hail swath track algorithm, and 0.5 degree reflectivity products form WFO-GRR WSR88D.

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

   A tornado began east of Peach Ridge Avenue and north of 6 Mile Road and moved east northeast for almost 9 miles, ending just west of Rockford High School. Hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted. Structural damage was done to buildings in the 5600 block of Alpine Avenue and to homes in a subdivision just north of the intersection of 7 Mile Road and Pine Island Drive. Peak wind speeds in this area were estimated to be 110 mph making this an upper end EF-1 tornado.

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

   Numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down. A woman and two girls were also killed near Cedar Springs when the vehicle they were traveling in lost control in a heavy downpour and hydroplaning accident.

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

   There were numerous reports of damage to homes as a result of fallen trees and tree limbs. Many power lines were also downed.

7. Feb 5, 2019Ice Storm, Kent$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to three quarters of an inch of freezing rain resulted in numerous downed trees, limbs, power lines and widespread power outages.

8. Apr 6, 1997High Wind, Kent$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense early spring low pressure system moving across the Great Lakes brought gale force westerly winds to all of Lower Michigan behind a strong cold front. The cold front moved onshore in western Lower Michigan around 5 PM EDT Sunday, April 6th. Winds increased to sustained speeds of 35 to 45 mph out of the west shortly after frontal passage. Frequent wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph were common through midnight, Sunday night. Winds continued to gust to gale force through 5 PM EDT Monday, April 7th. The U.S. Coast Guard reported wave heights of 10 to 15 feet near the Lake Michigan shoreline. Widespread wind damage and lake shore beach erosion was reported across the area. Area…

9. Jul 11, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Radar data indicates the northern end of a strong bow echo moved east into southwestern Kent county at 10:45 a.m. and raced east northeast producing significant wind damage and exited far east central Kent county near Lowell at around 11:10 a.m. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down and uprooted in and near towns including Cutlerville, Wyoming and Kentwood.||A 38 year old man was killed inside his garage along 68th street SE in Cutlerville when wind gusts of up to 80 mph ripped a large tree and its roots out of the ground and toppling it onto the garage, splitting it in half. In addition, a woman suffered minor injuries when a tree fell on her home in Cutlerville.

10. Feb 24, 2019High Wind, Kent$5.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Downed tree limbs and power lines and widespread power outages occurred due to wind gusts of up to around 60 mph.

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

104°FJul 6, 2012

All-time low

−22°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

81°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−3°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

4.15 inMay 15, 2001

Snowiest day

16.1 inJan 26, 1978

Hottest year

2012mean 52.9°F

Coldest year

1972mean 45.6°F

Wettest year

201951.37 in

Driest year

199627.55 in

Snowiest season

116.0 in2013-14

Station Grand Rapids (USW00094860), 875 ft elevation, 12.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1963 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 Kent 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 USW00094860.
• 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.