Cass County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Oct 24, 2001Tornado$5.0 million
2. Feb 20, 2018Flood$550,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred due to high water levels in many creeks, streams and rivers in the county. Several roads were closed for a period of time until flood waters receded. A few dozen structures were impacted by the flood waters as well as minor road damage. Damage of around 550,000 dollars was estimated.

3. Aug 25, 1998Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   ONE MOBILE HOME WAS COMPLETELY DEMOLISHED ON SOUTH SIDE OF JUNO LAKE AND SEVERAL OTHER HOMES AROUND JUNO, PAINTER, EAGLE AND CHRISTAN LAKE SUFFERED MINOR TO MODERATE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. AN RV WAS TOSSED ABOUT AND ROTATED 180 DEGREES WHICH CAUSED MAJOR DAMAGE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE COMPLETELY FLATTENED WHICH ALSO CAUSED DAMAGE TO HOMES. MANY ROADS WERE BLOCKED BY FALLEN TREES...SNAPPED POWER POLES AND DOWNED POWER LINES.THIS TORNADO BEGAN IN NILES AND PEAKED IN INTENSITY AND WIDTH 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF EDWARDSBURG WHERE IT WIDENED OUT TO ONE HALF MILE. IT CONTINUED ON TOWARD THE TOWN OF BRISTOL IN NORTHEAST ELKHART COUNTY BEFORE LIFTING.

4. May 7, 2024Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ramona Skating Rink was struck by lightning, caught fire, then burned to the ground according to broadcast media.

5. Sep 13, 2008Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rainfall from the remnants of Lowell and Ike continued to drop heavy rainfall into the early morning hours of the 15th. When the rain finally stopped, total rainfall amounts of 10 to 12 inches was reported from the extreme eastern parts of Niles into Edwardsburg. Numerous roads remained closed with some culverts and bridges suffering damage. No injuries were reported. No exact figures are available for the damage to the area from the flooding.

6. Apr 5, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An area of scattered damage originated at the Dowagiac airport, with a hangar suffering moderate damage. The wind damage continued to expand with the roof being shifted off a business in the 54000 block of M-51. The remainder of the damage was confined to numerous three to four foot diameter trees being uprooted or snapped, as well as some large branches down. A few of these did fall on a few structure but damage was very limited. Damage for the area is estimated at $400,000.

7. Aug 25, 1998Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   THE TORNADO HAD WEAKENED AS IT PASSED JUST EAST OF ADAMSVILLE. IT STILL CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO SEVERAL FARMS ALONG AND PRIMARILY SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 12.SEVERAL HOMES AND VEHICLES SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE DUE TO FALLEN TREES.

8. Jul 2, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   More than six dozen large trees were uprooted with hundreds of other trees either split or missing large limbs after a severe thunderstorm with estimated 70 mph winds blew through the Edwardsburg area around 7:50 AM EDT Wednesday, July 2, 1997. Downed trees and utility poles limited travel by blocking at least 6 area roads and road crews worked through the day to clear debris. Almost all of the village's 1,200 residents were without power for most of the day. The hardest hit area of Pleasant Lake reported 16 large trees uprooted. On the south side of the lake along Washington Street, one home was destroyed. Trees were downed onto several houses. The Ontwa Township/Edwardsburg…

9. Jun 5, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Microburst damage continued into Cass County from Berrien County, near County Line Road and Frost Street. Tree damaged continued along the track, with somewhat more concentrated damage towards the end of the path as it tracked across some residential areas. Three homes suffered minor damage from either the winds or trees falling onto them. A barn and garage were destroyed at the end of the microburst near Wilbur Hill Road and Peavine Street. The supercell that caused the microburst produced yet another tornado just to the east of this microburst damage.

10. Jun 5, 2010Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    After leaving behind a swath of microburst winds, the storm intensified with a tornado touching down about a half mile southwest of Southwestern Michigan College, near Dowagiac. The circulation initially impacted the Pokagon subdivision with numerous homes suffering varying degrees of damage (DI: FR12 DOD: 4). The circulation continued east-southeast through mainly open and wooded areas, severely damaging numerous trees. The most extensive tree damage occurred near Michigan 62, west of Twin Lake Road where a 600 yard wide area of trees suffered extensive damage. The circulation was likely embedded within a much larger area of rear flank downdraft winds. The circulation then turned…

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

103°F2 times, most recently Jul 31, 1999

All-time low

−23°FFeb 7, 1978

Warmest night

78°FJun 27, 1969

Coldest day

−12°FJan 31, 2019

Wettest day

5.79 inAug 16, 2016

Snowiest day

15.0 inJan 26, 1978

Hottest year

1998mean 52.2°F

Coldest year

2014mean 45.4°F

Wettest year

199053.51 in

Driest year

195827.29 in

Snowiest season

135.9 in2013-14

Station Dowagiac 1 W (USC00202250), 740 ft elevation, 8.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1953 to October 23, 2026; 97.8% 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 USC00202250.
• 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.