Benzie County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Benzie County: 2.
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.

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.

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 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. Mar 2, 2012Heavy Snow, Benzie$600,000
   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…

2. Oct 22, 2019Lakeshore Flood, Benzie$129,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A parking lot next to Betsie Lake in Frankfort flooded. A large field of debris, including entire trees and large tree limbs, was deposited along the beach at Point Betsie Lighthouse.

3. Jul 17, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees downed. Five homes damaged by falling trees.

4. Dec 16, 2021High Wind, Benzie$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An impressive sub-980mb cyclone tracked across western Lake Superior into Ontario during the morning of 12/16, bringing widespread wind gusts of 60-70mph across all of northern Michigan. The highest gust recorded was 70mph at Traverse City Cherry Capitol airport. Widespread downed trees, limbs and powerlines were seen across the County Warning Area, leaving many with power outages that extended for several days. Some schools and businesses across the area were forced to close for the day due to power outages. The Mackinac Bridge was forced to partially close to high profile vehicles for around 12 hours due to winds reported of 82 mph from the mid-span of the bridge.

5. Jun 23, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$16,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Pockets of tree damage occurred in southern Benzie County. A large barn was partially unroofed.

6. Aug 28, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 70 mph gust was measured at the Coast Guard Station on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Numerous trees and tree limbs were downed in Frankfort.

7. Dec 24, 2015High Wind, Benzie$12,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Deep low pressure lifted across the upper Mississippi Valley late on the 23rd, pushing a cold front into northern Michigan toward or just after midnight. High winds occurred in some areas just behind the cold front, resulting in scattered tree damage and power outages. Gusts in excess of 60 mph were measured in some locations, including the Alpena, Mackinaw City, and Sault Ste Marie areas. In a few spots, the power remained out into Christmas Day.

8. Aug 27, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$12,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms rolled across Lake Michigan into Northern Lower Michigan during the overnight hours. A few of these storms produced damaging wind gusts.

9. Sep 13, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$12,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front, and organized into a severe squall line as it crossed Lake Michigan. The storms raced across northern Lower Michigan in the evening hours, producing wind damage north of a line from Cadillac to Alpena.

10. Jun 9, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Local print and broadcast media report downed trees and damage to artwork at Michigan Legacy Art Park due to thunderstorms. Time approximated from radar data.

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

99°F2 times, most recently Jul 7, 1921

All-time low

−32°FFeb 11, 1899

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jul 21, 2002

Coldest day

−9°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

4.20 inAug 22, 2002

Snowiest day

16.0 in2 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Hottest year

2012mean 50.5°F

Coldest year

1926mean 39.2°F

Wettest year

198545.65 in

Driest year

193019.59 in

Snowiest season

166.3 in1984-85

Station Frankfort 2NE (USC00202984), 948 ft elevation, 9.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1898 to October 26, 2026; 93.2% 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 USC00202984.
• 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.