Isabella County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 23, 2017Flood$70.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Isabella County Road Commission reported that at one point over 100 roads across portions of Isabella county in and around Mount Pleasant were closed due to flooding. A mesonet station near Mt. Pleasant reported that 6.88 inches of rain fell from June 22nd into the early morning hours of June 23rd. The flooding resulted in over 90 million dollars worth of property damage. Numerous homes sustained flooding damage and the United States Department of Agriculture estimated that 21 million dollars worth of crop damage was incurred. A state of emergency was declared for Isabella county.

2. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Isabella$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.

3. Aug 11, 2010Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Isabella county emergency management and law enforcement reported that several roads were flooded and washed out and that the Central Michigan Community Hospital also was partially flooded due to over 4 inches of rain that fell in just two and a half hours during the evening hours of August 11th. Extensive flooding damage occurred at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, where 39 campus buildings incurred extensive damage. The flash flood damage required repairing or replacing ceilings, floors, walls, insulation, equipment, electrical and mechanical systems and storm sewers at a cost of 3.5 million dollars.

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

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

5. Feb 5, 2019Ice Storm, Isabella$1.0 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.

6. May 23, 2004Flood, Isabella$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…

7. Jun 21, 1996Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous large trees were downed. Three homes were damaged along with 4 barns destroyed, and numerous other outbuildings, silos, and farm machinery were damaged.

8. Dec 11, 2010Winter Storm, Isabella$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around six inches of heavy wet snow was reported across much of Isabella county with pockets of around eight inches of snow across the northern part of the county. Numerous accidents were also reported across the county.

9. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Michigan State Police EMD's Damage and Injury Assessment Report indicated wind damage to homes, businesses, barns and other outbuildings, and some public buildings. Local roads and streets were temporarily blocked in many areas. The Michigan Department of Community Health reported $89,500 in damages to the Mount Pleasant Center in Isabella County (which included damage to both structural and mechanical systems). Damage estimates were reported to be $250,000. No injuries were reported and specific counts for home and business damage were not available. Isabella County declared a local state of emergency.

10. Apr 3, 2003Ice Storm, Isabella$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…

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, 29.8 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.