Arenac County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Arenac County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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 18, 2020Flood$4.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread areal flooding developed on the 18th, and persisted for several days. Most creeks and rivers in Arenac County rose out of their banks. Many roads across the county were closed at various times, including M-13 south of Standish. The Rifle River near Sterling reached a new record flood stage of 15.65 feet on the afternoon of the 19th. Some structures along the River River and Parmalee Creek were partially submerged. The Forest Lake area was evacuated due to rising water. Hundreds of homes were flooded in the Standish area. Flooding along the Lake Huron coastline was worsened by lakeshore flooding thanks to onshore winds.

2. Aug 28, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four homes suffered wind damage, with roofing and windows damaged by fallen trees.

3. Aug 28, 2018Tornado$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado with estimated maximum winds of 100 mph briefly touched down a couple of miles south of Au Gres, and just west of the Point Au Gres Campground. The tornado lifted near near the Lake Huron shoreline. Dozens of mature hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. An RV at the campground was destroyed by fallen trees. One person was briefly trapped, but was not injured.

4. Apr 11, 2013Ice Storm, Arenac$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large and complex low pressure system lifted toward the southern and western Great Lakes region, bumping into high pressure over northern Ontario and Quebec. The high helped anchor cold air in place at low levels, while warm and moist air surged in aloft ahead of the low. This resulted in a wide mix of wintry precipitation, developing on the afternoon of the 11th, and ending late that night. Eastern Upper Michigan was far enough north to get mostly snow, with up to nine inches measured in Pickford. In northern Lower, snow transitioned to sleet and freezing rain, and in some places to just rain before dwindling. Ice amounts were substantial near Saginaw Bay, with 3/4 of an inch…

5. May 20, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$45,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were downed in Sterling, while the roof was blown off of a home in Standish.

6. Aug 28, 2018Tornado$45,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado with estimated maximum winds of 85 mph briefly touched down along the Rifle River, about 4 miles northeast of Sterling. A number of hardwood and softwood trees were knocked over or snapped, damaging a few structures in the process.

7. Jun 6, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$34,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and power lines were downed. A pickup truck was damaged by falling trees. A large barn roof was ripped off, and was deposited onto a nearby residence.

8. May 23, 2004Flood, Arenac$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Southbound I-75 was closed near Alger, when a culvert was partially washed out. Many rivers exceeded bankfull, including the Rifle, Au Gres, and Pine Rivers. Several roads in eastern Arenac County were under several feet of water, including Santiago and Twining Roads.

9. Jun 10, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were downed in multiple locations in and just east of Standish. Power lines were also downed in and on the east side of Omer.

10. May 27, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$27,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large tree fell onto two RV's at the Big Bend Campground on Conrad Rd, near Omer. One RV was destroyed, the other suffered only minor damage. Four campers inside one of the trailers were injured, thankfully none of them seriously.

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

100°F4 times, most recently Aug 9, 2001

All-time low

−28°FFeb 1, 1994

Warmest night

85°FJun 26, 1943

Coldest day

−3°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

4.48 inMay 19, 2020

Snowiest day

13.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 2, 2011

Hottest year

2024mean 49.0°F

Coldest year

1989mean 42.6°F

Wettest year

198543.79 in

Driest year

195817.43 in

Snowiest season

74.1 in1978-79

Station Standish 4NE (USC00207820), 615 ft elevation, 2.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1895 to October 27, 2026; 87.0% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00207820.
• 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.