Eaton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Aug 24, 2007Tornado$40.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey team determined that an EF-3 (Enhanced-Fujita Tornado Scale Rating) tornado with wind speeds estimated at 140 mph produced the most severe damage along a path from M-50 just north of Kinsel Highway to just west of M-100 and Vermontville Highway near Potterville, Michigan. The storm survey indicated a tornado path which was 200 to 300 yards wide and 6.5 miles long.||Fifteen homes were either destroyed or severely damaged. A roof was blown off a single story home and windward facing walls were blown in. The majority of the roof and garage from this home were not found. A roof was blown off of a two story home and the upper story front walls were blown in.…

2. Sep 9, 2001Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A F1 tornado with a path length of 8.5 miles, which was 300 yards wide, produced maximum wind speeds of 110 m.p.h. that caused extensive damage. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. The tornado touched down on Windsor Highway in Eaton county three quarters of a mile west of I-69. The tornado began as a F0 about 150 feet wide. The tornado moved northeast at about 40 m.p.h. and caused a considerable amount of tree damage, major damage to barns and outbuildings, and minor damage to homes. It crossed I-69 just south of Davis Highway, blowing over a semi trailer causing minor injuries. It began to strengthen and widen as it crossed Davis Highway, and numerous trees were blown…

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

   Peak wind gusts in the 60 to 70 mph range resulted in numerous downed trees and limbs and power lines and widespread power outages.

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

   Severe thunderstorm winds blew down numerous trees and tree limbs and power lines across portions of Eaton county. Some houses were damaged from falling trees and some power poles were damaged. Numerous trees were also snapped or uprooted in and near Grand Ledge along with damaged utility lines and buildings.

5. Dec 21, 2013Ice Storm, Eaton$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm brought a half to three quarters of an inch of ice accumulation across nearly all of Eaton county, causing widespread power outages and downed trees, tree limbs and lines. At one point over 15,000 people were without power in Eaton county alone, and thousands of people did not have power restored until 5 to 6 days after the storm hit.

6. Feb 24, 2019High Wind, Eaton$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts up to around 60 mph downed tree limbs and power lines and resulted in widespread power outages.

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

   Heavy rainfall caused significant flooding on rivers and streams across Eaton county.

8. Oct 24, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major severe weather episode occurred across southern lower Michigan, highlighted by three supercell thunderstorms that caused extensive damage. The first supercell storm moved into southwest Kalamazoo county just southwest of Schoolcraft. This storm moved northeast at 50 to 55 m.p.h. across Kalamazoo, extreme northwest Calhoun, southeast Barry, northwest Eaton, southeast Ionia, northwest Clinton and Gratiot counties. It produced a swath of damage 2 miles wide in which thousands of trees were either broken off or uprooted, and some structural damage occurred to homes, barns and larger buildings. Much of the damage resulted from trees falling on homes. A few older homes had major…

9. May 29, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of damage approximately 12 miles long and 0.5 to 1 mile in width occurred SE of Charlotte to just NNE of Eaton Rapids. The damage resulted from a bowing segment of a line echo wave pattern which downed numerous trees and power lines. Several homes in the area sustained roof damage, and one home approximately 3 mi NW of Eaton Rapids was partially destroyed. However, that home was not properly attached to its foundation. Several barns were also damaged, one of which was destroyed.

10. May 29, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The bow echo impacted mainly rural areas of Brookfield and Hamlin Townships. The damage path, which was 8 miles long and up to 1 mile in width, was an extension of the damage path seen in Calhoun county. Hundreds of trees were either uprooted or snapped, and a half of a dozen farms received property damage.

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, 11.5 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.