Baraga County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Jul 18, 2022Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Facebook photos verified hail from golf ball to baseball-sized in L'Anse. Time of the report was estimated from radar.

2. May 15, 2025Flash Flood$9.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A localized area of up to 4.2 inches of rainfall fell (per a public source in Pequaming) in a few hours between about 12:30 AM through about 5 AM, with the Baraga and L'Anse CWOP stations recording rain rates of a quarter to half inch of rain per 15 minutes and various stations recorded 1-2+ inch per hour rates. This sudden rainfall caused road overtopping and washouts in the communities of Keweenaw Bay, Baraga, L'Anse, and Pequaming as well as rural surrounding areas. Bus routes were rerouted and beaches were closed due to wastewater backups causing E. Coli and Fecal Coliform contamination. Many basements and private drives were flooded as well. Local rivers such as the Silver…

3. May 12, 2003Flood, Baraga$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On May 10th and 11th a deepening low pressure center moved northeast from the plains into eastern Upper Michigan. By the time the precipitation ended during the afternoon on 12th, Herman in Baraga Countyhad received an impressive 4.88 inches of rain. Some other rainfall totals included 4.71 inches at Ironwood, 3.79 Inches at Paint Lake in Iron County, 3.62 inches at the Marquette NWS, 3.49 inches at Watton in Baraga county, 3.30 inches at Phoenix in Keweenaw County and at Wakefield in Gogebic County, 2.60 Inches at Hancock, 2.20 inches in the city of Marquette, and.0.94 inch at Munising. This heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding across the western Upper Michigan. A number of…

4. Oct 18, 2024Wildfire, Baraga$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An abnormally and record dry September into the first half of October with precipitation deficits of more than 3 inches led to the ignition of the Summit Lake Wildfire which was discovered on the evening of October 18th in the northwest corner of the McCormick Wilderness between Summit Lake and Evergreen Lake. The McCormick Wilderness is located in Baraga County, 12.5 miles north of Michigamme, MI. The wildfire grew rapidly from 5 acres on the morning of the 19th to 100 acres on the morning of the 20th. Difficult access for firefighters combined with an abundant mix of hardwood and conifer trees for fuel allowed the wildfire to expand over 300 acres by the 27th before a…

5. May 4, 2023Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff of liquid water equivalent of up to four inches in the higher terrain of Baraga County resulted in mostly minor snowmelt flooding of rural areas along rivers and small streams through much of the first half of May. Minor flooding occurred along the Sturgeon River during this time.

6. May 1, 2023Winter Storm, Baraga$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm total snowfall reports across the county included an estimated 41 inches just southeast of Mount Arvon, 27 inches at Herman, 19.5 inches at Three Lakes, 14 inches at L'Anse and 9.7 inches at Michigamme. The wet and heavy snowfall brought down trees and powerlines causing power outages, and numerous roads were closed across the county due to the near impossible travel on roadways from dense and compacted wet snow. Schools were closed throughout the county on the 1st and 2nd.

7. Jul 18, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storms caused sporadic straight-line wind damage over a path roughly one mile long and about one-half mile wide. The estimated 65 mph peak winds uprooted trees and broke off large limbs. One tree fell on a mobile home while the owner was sitting nearby and caused a fire to break out in the kitchen when it landed on a stove. Fallen trees caused damage to other houses and totaled at least one vehicle. In addition a portion of the roof of the county road commission garage was tore off.

8. Jul 5, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees uprooted - power lines down - some trees on houses. A resort at Lake Ruth suffered wind damage to its main lodge, three cabins, and two sheds. Six of its twelve 14 foot fishing boats were damaged beyond repair. Two houses on Lake George were seriously damaged by falling trees.

9. Mar 8, 2017Winter Weather, Baraga$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of three to four inches of lake effect snow and west winds gusting as high as 50 mph resulted in occasional whiteout conditions at several locations throughout the county. ||The harsh winter weather and whiteout conditions led to a three vehicle accident on Highway US-41 by Canyon Falls at around 8:30 pm EST. According to the Baraga County Sheriff's Department, two cars hit head-on and then one of the cars was hit by a semi-truck. One of the drivers had to be extricated from the car by the jaws of life and sustained several spinal cord injuries. Two children also sustained spinal cord injuries and were eventually air-lifted to the University Hospital in Ann Arbor…

10. Jul 18, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$53,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Law enforcement reported a roof blown off a house in Pequaming. Numerous softwood trees were also snapped about a third of the way off the ground along 2nd Sand Road. Time of the report was estimated from radar.

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

102°FJul 7, 1988

All-time low

−30°F2 times, most recently Feb 9, 1951

Warmest night

77°F2 times, most recently Jul 13, 2026

Coldest day

−16°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

5.96 inJun 17, 2018

Snowiest day

26.5 inJan 18, 1996

Hottest year

2024mean 46.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 36.2°F

Wettest year

195144.56 in

Driest year

201116.89 in

Station Hancock Houghton County Airport (USW00014858), 1,063 ft elevation, 27.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.2% 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 USW00014858.
• 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.