Ionia County

Every recorded tornado

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

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, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and tree limbs were blown down. 15 power poles were snapped and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted in Saranac. In Portland several trees were also snapped or uprooted.

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

   A 62 mph peak wind gust was measured at the Ionia airport. Peak wind gusts in the 60 to 70 mph range resulted in numerous downed trees and limbs and power lines and widespread power outages.

3. Apr 17, 2013Flood$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

4. Feb 5, 2019Ice Storm, Ionia$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

5. Apr 26, 2011Hail$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trained spotters reported that a severe thunderstorm produced hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter on the northeast side of Belding. The swath was up to one mile wide and was part of the swath that began in extreme northeast Ottawa County based on correlation with spotter reports and radar hail products.

6. Jun 22, 2015Tornado$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey determined that an EF-1 tornado struck Portland in Ionia county. The estimated peak wind speed was 110 mph. There was damage to homes and businesses throughout portions of Portland and more than 50 structures were impacted with roof damage and broken windows. Dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted. Three churches were heavily damaged. There were 5 minor injuries and no fatalities.

7. Feb 24, 2019High Wind, Ionia$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.

8. May 21, 2004Flood, Ionia$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. Aug 20, 2016Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado damage began just east of Orleans and moved northeast where it crossed M-44, bringing several large trees down, one of which fell on a house. The tornado then crossed West Long Lake Road where the concrete block wall of a garage was blown out and the wind peeled shingles off the roof of a house.||A path of tree damage about a hundred yards wide continued to the northeast and narrowed. The last damage noted was a few downed trees on East Boyer Road|about 3.5 miles southeast of Sheridan.

10. Apr 4, 2023Hail$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hail up to tennis ball sized was reported across portions of Ionia county. It did considerable damage to area roofs and siding of homes.

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

104°FJul 6, 2012

All-time low

−22°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

81°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−3°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

4.15 inMay 15, 2001

Snowiest day

16.1 inJan 26, 1978

Hottest year

2012mean 52.9°F

Coldest year

1972mean 45.6°F

Wettest year

201951.37 in

Driest year

199627.55 in

Snowiest season

116.0 in2013-14

Station Grand Rapids (USW00094860), 875 ft elevation, 23.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 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 USW00094860.
• 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.