Gladwin County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 18, 2020Flood$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread areal flooding developed on the 18th, and persisted for several days. Most creeks and rivers in Gladwin County rose out of their banks. Several hundred miles of roads across the county were closed at various times. The Tobacco River at Beaverton rose to a record crest of 14.32 feet on the morning of the 19th. Somewhat more than 100 residents were evacuated from their homes, including people living below the Chappel Dam on the Cedar River. The M-30 bridge across the Tobacco River where it enters Wixom Lake was destroyed.

2. May 18, 2020Flash Flood$6.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple dams on the Tittabawassee River system were in danger during and after the heavy rain event. Significant releases of water from Secord and Smallwood Dams caused periods of rapid, flash flooding downstream of those dams on parts of the 18th and 19th. Tremendous erosion of the river banks occurred, and some roads and properties were damaged. Those releases did manage to save those two dams. However, downstream, Edenville Dam was unable to be saved. That dam failed catastrophically on the evening of the 19th, releasing the contents of Wixom Lake to downstream portions of the Tittabawassee River.|Note that Edenville Dam was located just north of the Gladwin/Midland County…

3. Jun 23, 2017Flood$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High water continued through the day on the 23rd, with the tributaries of Wixom Lake (Edenville Dam Pond) seeing the greatest rise. Water entered a few homes located near creeks and streams in the area.

4. Jun 22, 2024Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado touched down in northern Gladwin County, starting near Lake Lancer and ending near the East Branch of the Tittabawassee River. There was some minor home damage around Lake Lancer, with mainly tree damage as it moved east.

5. Jun 9, 2001Tornado$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado damaged several buildings and numerous trees.

6. Apr 14, 2014Flood$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cedar River rose out of its banks, flooding a few businesses in the city of Gladwin.

7. Jun 8, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sporadic trees and power lines downed a mile south of Albright Shores. Some damage to a barn and to the roof of a home.

8. Apr 11, 2013Ice Storm, Gladwin$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large and complex low pressure system lifted toward the southern and western Great Lakes region, bumping into high pressure over northern Ontario and Quebec. The high helped anchor cold air in place at low levels, while warm and moist air surged in aloft ahead of the low. This resulted in a wide mix of wintry precipitation, developing on the afternoon of the 11th, and ending late that night. Eastern Upper Michigan was far enough north to get mostly snow, with up to nine inches measured in Pickford. In northern Lower, snow transitioned to sleet and freezing rain, and in some places to just rain before dwindling. Ice amounts were substantial near Saginaw Bay, with 3/4 of an inch…

9. May 20, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of wind damage moved across the Beaverton and Sugar Springs area. Dozens of trees were downed, and some minor damage to homes occurred.

10. Aug 28, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Many large trees were downed, some of them onto homes. Power was out in much of the area.

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, 2.6 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.