Gratiot County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

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

   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

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

3. Feb 24, 2019High Wind, Gratiot$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.

4. May 23, 2004Flood, Gratiot$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. Feb 16, 2006Ice Storm, Gratiot$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major ice storm developed across much of central lower Michigan producing around a quarter to half inch of ice accumulation between Route 10 and I-96. Thousands of homes lost power from just north of Grand Rapids to Lansing north to Route 10 and many areas did not have power for three to five days. There were numerous reports of downed trees and power lines all across that area. Just north and northwest of that area precipitation mainly fell in the form of snow, and six to eight inches of snow fell across northern Mason and Lake counties.

6. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$610,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Michigan State Police EMD's Damage and Injury Assessment Report indicated $610,000 in public damage costs, 2675 homes damaged, 10 homes destroyed, and 100 businesses destroyed. Private damage cost estimates were not available. The county reported significant public health and safety risks due to the widespread loss of power and telephone service. The Michigan National Guard supplied a generator and water supply tanker to the Michigan Department of Corrections to address the need for power and water at the Mid-Michigan Correctional Facility in St. Louis, in Gratiot County. Gratiot County declared a local state of emergency and was granted a Governor's declaration to activate state…

7. Aug 9, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team confirmed an EF-0 tornado briefly touched down on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 in Lafayette Township in Gratiot County. This tornado was on the ground for about 250 yards in Lafeyette Township causing significant damage to a 99 year old family farm. This same storm produced a weak EF-0 tornado that touched down briefly for about 200 yards in a corn field in Lakefield Township in Saginaw County. Some very minor crop damage was found along the path between the two tornado touchdowns. Maximum wind gusts were estimated to be around 80mph in Lafayette Township.

8. Sep 12, 2021Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to two and a half inches in diameter was reported near Sickles that dented vehicles and caused significant damage. Some wind damage was reported as well.

9. Apr 3, 2003Ice Storm, Gratiot$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…

10. May 21, 2001Tornado$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A man was slightly injured when a shed he was in collapsed, a pickup truck was flipped over, and two building were partially unroofed by a F1 tornado that touched down in Elwell. The tornado produced maximum estimated wind speeds to 110 m.p.h. It had a path length of 3 miles and a width of 40 yards. The tornado touched down just south of Van Buren road, then moved northwest through the town of Elwell, and ended just north of M-46.

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

111°FJul 13, 1936

All-time low

−23°FFeb 5, 1918

Warmest night

81°FJul 11, 1911

Coldest day

−4°FJan 18, 1994

Wettest day

6.93 inAug 10, 2012

Snowiest day

21.3 inMar 17, 1973

Hottest year

2024mean 51.9°F

Coldest year

1917mean 43.1°F

Wettest year

192843.36 in

Driest year

193417.56 in

Snowiest season

87.2 in1966-67

Station Saginaw Mbs International Airport (USW00014845), 662 ft elevation, 30.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1898 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00014845.
• 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.