Clare County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Clare$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two people were killed when the vehicle they were driving in on M-115 in Freeman township in Clare county was struck by a large tree at 4:25 pm. Peak wind gusts of up to 60 mph resulted in numerous downed trees and limbs and power lines and widespread power outages.

2. Apr 17, 2013Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred on rivers and streams across Clare county.

3. Jul 5, 2024Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first indications of tornado damage were near Bringold Avenue about one-third of a mile south of Mannsiding Road. The tornado traveled east northeast across Lake George and continued east near Cedar Road and continued on to the east northeast |crossing US-127 and ending just south of the intersection of East Gladwin Road and South Rodgers Avenue.||The damage included boats flipped on Lake George as well as hundreds of|trees downed along the path - including some trees falling onto homes.|There was a concentrated area of damage where winds were estimated|at 95 mph just east of Old State Road about one-quarter mile south|of Mannsiding Road. After that, the damage became…

4. May 23, 2004Flood, Clare$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The biggest and longest duration flooding event in the past ten to twenty years occurred across southwestern and south central lower Michigan from May 20th through the third of June. Flooding in mid May resulted in very high river levels and the ground was saturated on the 20th. Numerous thunderstorm complexes and areas of heavy rainfall developed repeatedly in the vicinity of a quasi stationary frontal boundary draped across southern lower Michigan. The heaviest rain fell on Saturday, May 22nd, when over two inches of rain fell over most of the area. Total rainfall over the Grand River basin from May 20th through June 3rd varied from four to as much as seven inches.The Grand…

5. Sep 26, 1998Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   1.75 to 3 inch hail damaged buildings and vehicles damage amount is unknown.

6. Dec 11, 2010Winter Storm, Clare$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nine to ten inches of heavy wet snow was reported across most of Clare county. Power outages were reported due to the strong wind and heavy wet snow.

7. Apr 7, 2020Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail up to one and three quarters inches in diameter was reported near Clare.

8. Apr 3, 2003Ice Storm, Clare$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major ice storm affected much of southern lower Michigan, causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose power. The weight of the ice brought down thousands of trees and limbs and hundreds of power lines. Many people across the area lost power for several days and some people who live in outlying areas were without power for a week. The ice storm resulted in several million dollars worth of damage across the area.The ice storm came in three stages. The first period of freezing rain during the afternoon hours of the 3rd resulted in up to a quarter of an inch of ice across Osceola and Isabella counties, in central lower Michigan. The second period of freezing rain came during the…

9. Oct 6, 1998Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado continued into Clare County then lifted and moved ne

10. Aug 28, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped and there was damage to buldings and vehicles due to fallen trees. Leota was especially hard hit.

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

105°FJul 13, 1936

All-time low

−39°FFeb 20, 1929

Warmest night

83°FJul 9, 1911

Coldest day

−3°FJan 11, 1912

Wettest day

5.00 inMay 20, 1912

Snowiest day

15.0 inDec 11, 1895

Hottest year

2024mean 49.3°F

Coldest year

1904mean 42.1°F

Wettest year

195945.51 in

Driest year

191015.40 in

Snowiest season

102.4 in1951-52

Station Gladwin (USW00014828), 775 ft elevation, 16.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to October 28, 2026; 97.7% 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 USW00014828.
• 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.