Clinton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Clinton$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 64 mph peak wind gust was measured at the Capital City airport in Lansing. Peak wind gusts in the 60 to 70 mph range resulted in numerous downed trees and limbs and power lines and widespread power outages.

2. Apr 17, 2013Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred on rivers and streams across Clinton county.

3. Aug 24, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous reports of downed power lines, trees and tree limbs across portions of Clinton county.

4. Feb 24, 2019High Wind, Clinton$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downed tree limbs and power lines and widespread power outages occurred due to wind gusts of up to around 60 mph.

5. Feb 5, 2019Ice Storm, Clinton$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to three quarters of an inch of freezing rain resulted in numerous downed trees, limbs, power lines and widespread power outages.

6. Nov 29, 2011Winter Storm, Clinton$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained spotter in St. John's measured ten inches of snow. The weight of the snow caused limbs and power lines to come down. 8.1 inches of snow was measured at Capital City Airport just northwest of downtown Lansing.

7. Dec 21, 2013Ice Storm, Clinton$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm brought a half an inch of ice accumulation across southern Clinton county, causing numerous power outages and downed trees, tree limbs and lines. Thousands of people did not have power restored until 3 to 5 days after the storm hit.

8. May 21, 2004Flood, Clinton$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…

9. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$503,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Michigan State Police EMD's Damage and Injury Assessment Report indicated $502,700 in public damage costs, 910 homes damaged, 2 homes destroyed, and 131 businesses damaged. Private property damage estimates were not available. Damage was widespread across the county, with the cities of St. Johns, Elsie, Ovid, and De Witt especially hard-hit. Law enforcement officials reported a 62-year old man was killed in Victor Township on Tuesday, June 2nd, while attempting to clear debris. He was cutting a tree into pieces with a chainsaw when a large limb sprang up and killed him. Clinton County declared a local state of emergency and was granted a Governor's disaster declaration to activate…

10. May 21, 2001Tornado$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A F1 tornado produced maximum estimated wind speeds of 90 m.p.h. in Riley. The tornado began just south of Pratt road and moved north northwest, parallel to Forest Hill road, and ended just south of Parks road. Two sheds were destroyed and a barn was damaged. A shop at an archery range was destroyed and insulation from the shop was carried 3 miles north by the tornado. The tornado had a path length of 4.5 miles and was 50 yards wide.

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°FJul 6, 2012

All-time low

−29°FJan 4, 1981

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Jun 22, 2025

Coldest day

−3°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

4.95 inJun 11, 1986

Snowiest day

15.4 inJan 26, 1967

Hottest year

2024mean 51.8°F

Coldest year

1972mean 44.7°F

Wettest year

201341.46 in

Driest year

196221.23 in

Snowiest season

88.8 in1951-52

Station Lansing Capital City Airport (USW00014836), 857 ft elevation, 8.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014836.
• 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.