Iron County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 9, 2000Hail$4.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Warm air and gulf moisture surging north ahead of a surface low pressure area over the Northern Plains helped fuel thunderstorms which developed late on June 8th and the early morning of the 9th. The thunderstorms developed along and north of a warm front and were aided by widespread converging air in the low levels and divergence aloft. Shortly after midnight, a line of thunderstorms moved from Gogebic County, east, through southern Iron and central Dickinson Counties, producing large hail which damaged homes and vehicles in Iron River and Randville. An eye-witness reported hail falling so hard, it seemed like a snowstorm. About 700 vehicles and 575 homes suffered hail damage,…

2. Apr 13, 2023Flood$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Secondary roads were impacted by flooding along the Paint River, Iron River and other tributaries across the county. Iron County was included in a state of emergency declaration by Governor Whitmer on 4/21 to aid in flood recovery efforts.

3. Jul 9, 2020Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spotters reported that following roads were washed out across the county due to flash flooding: Idlewild Road southwest of Bewabic State Park, Hunter Street in Iron River between River Avenue and Highway US-2 and Smoky Lake Road between Homan Lake and Forest Highway 16. Moderate to severe shoulder washouts and downed trees were also reported across the county as rainfall amounts exceeded five inches at some locations.

4. Jan 24, 1997Heavy Snow, Iron$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another heavy lake enhanced snow took aim at northern Upper Michigan as low pressure moved northeast across Lower Michigan and Lake Huron on the 25th. With north winds, the maximum snowfall this time occured at the Marquette County Airport with 20 inches. Other heavy snow totals were:Phoenix......18 inchesHerman.......17 inchesMunising.....16 inchesShingleton...15 inchesIronwood.....15 inches Marquette....13 inches (city)Paint Lake...13 inches (25 NW Iron River).Heavy snow accumulation during this storm contributed to 2 roof collaspes. One was at the Iron River Reporter, a weekly newspaper in Iron River, which completely distroyed the building. The other occurred at a vacant…

5. Apr 13, 2026Flood$379,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   County emergency management reported that the M-69 bridge was closed on the 21st and advised residents to evacuate if they resided near flooded waters. On the 18th, social media reports showed inundation for low lying areas in the town of Amasa including damage to local parks and residential septic systems. Deer Lake became inaccessible due to road washouts on the 18th. Flooding in Sagola resulted in railroad washouts. Due to the severity of the flooding, a Disaster Declaration Request was approved by the president on June 30th.

6. Apr 15, 2002Flood, Iron$280,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The record setting snowfall in February and March set the stage for flooding in April. During February and March of 2002, north-central and western parts of Upper Michigan received over 100 inches of snowfall. The snow pack held over 11 inches of water. The snow quickly melted during a 6 day period, 11-17 April 2002, releasing all that water into the creeks, streams. rivers and lakes. To exacerbate the situation, over 2 inches of rainfall occurred 10-12 April over much of Upper Michigan, and record high temperatures in the 70s and 80 were recorded on the 15th and 16th. During those two days, a dramatic snow melt occurred with nearly 2 feet of snow melting away. To complicate…

7. Jul 14, 1999Flash Flood$225,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two to seven and a half inches of rain fell over southern Iron County between 2200 EST, July 14 and 300 EST July 15. Considerable damage was done to area roads with many secondary roads down to one lane. Several roads were washed out and closed. Seventy-five homes in southern Iron County had flooded basements and some businesses in the low lying area of downtown Iron River were flooded and closed.

8. Aug 9, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The NWS storm survey found widespread extensive tree damage on both sides of Golden Lake in Iron County. At least a hundred healthy softwood and hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted, some causing minor damage to homes in the area. One camper had to be rescued after being trapped by falling trees but was uninjured. Time of the report was estimated from radar.

9. Apr 20, 1996Flood, Iron$130,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minor flooding across Iron County damaged a few sewer systems.

10. May 1, 2023Winter Storm, Iron$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Wet heavy snowfall reports included an estimated 11 inches eight miles north of Amasa and nearly 8 inches in Amasa. The wet and heavy snowfall brought down trees and a few powerlines causing some power outages. Schools were closed throughout the county on the 1st due snow-packed roadways and treacherous travel conditions.

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 13, 1936

All-time low

−45°F2 times, most recently Feb 4, 1996

Warmest night

74°F2 times, most recently Jul 2, 2002

Coldest day

−20°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.20 inJul 15, 1999

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 15, 1939

Hottest year

1931mean 44.5°F

Coldest year

2014mean 34.3°F

Wettest year

195141.97 in

Driest year

198919.15 in

Snowiest season

119.5 in1995-96

Station Stambaugh 2SSE (USC00207812), 1,450 ft elevation, 5.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1922 to October 27, 2026; 98.2% 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 USC00207812.
• 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.