Macomb County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Macomb County: 12.
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. Aug 11, 2014Flash Flood$300 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A historic rainfall event unfolded over Southeast Michigan on Monday, August 11, leading to major flooding and road closures. This event was caused by a strengthening low pressure system moving over the area, focusing the tropical moisture which came up from the south. The hardest hit areas included Metro Detroit and surrounding communities, along with Flint and the Saginaw Valley areas. Wayne, Southern Oakland and Macomb counties saw the worst of the flooding as 4 to 6 inches of rain fell over a 4 hour period. Around 75,000 homes and businesses suffered damage, with over 3000 suffering major damage. There was also damage to the roads and bridges, along with the city sewer pumps…

2. May 23, 2004Flood, Macomb$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A stationary front over Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan over the weekend brought with it severe thunderstorms and heavy rains, which caused widespread flooding over Southeast Michigan. Much of the rainfall occurred in saturated areas that had experienced well-above average precipitation for the month of May. In fact, May 2004 will go down as the wettest May on record at Flint and Detroit. Over a 36 hour period (12 am May 22nd to 8 am May 23rd), 2 to 6 inches of rain fell across Southeast Michigan. A trained weather spotter in Armada reported the highest total, 5.8 inches. The following counties were declared a "state of disaster" due to the flooding and severe storms: Genesse,…

3. Apr 3, 2003Ice Storm, Macomb$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An arctic frontal boundary moved south of the state by the morning of April 3, 2003. This front dropped temperatures to the freezing mark generally along and north of a Brighton to St Clair Shores line. Then, a series of low pressure systems moved across the front. This allowed very warm and moist air to lift north overtop of the sub-freezing temperatures near the ground. The first wave of precipitation moved across eastern Michigan late in the evening on April 3rd and continued through the morning of April 4th. Thunderstorms brought heavy freezing rain to the area during this time period. Spotter reports indicated up to 3 inches of freezing rain occurred in some places. Sleet was…

4. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Macomb$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A non thunderstorm event took place over the state on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, as high winds brought wind gusts in excess of 60 mph! The high winds took out power lines and trees, along with numerous reports of structural damage to buildings. There were also reports of brush fires and tractor-trailers flipped over around the area. Due to the extensive damage, many areas were without power for several days. Approximately 800,000 DTE customers and approximately 300,000 Consumers Energy customers were affected. The highest wind gust reported across Southeast Michigan was 68 mph at both Saginaw and Detroit Metro Airport.

5. Jul 2, 1997Tornado$30.0 million
6. Feb 19, 2016High Wind, Macomb$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong southwest winds of 50 to 60 mph brought down trees...tree limbs...and power lines...mainly along the M-59 corridor and I-94 corridors of Southeast Michigan. DTE reported 117,000 customers were affected during the peak early Friday evening, with 75,000 customers remaining without power into Saturday the next day. |Here are some of the higher wind gusts reported at airports across the area on Friday February 19th:|Ypsilanti... 58 mph at 1022 PM.|Detroit Metro... 55 mph at 744 PM.|Owosso... 55 mph at 835 PM.|Saginaw (MBS)... 54 mph at 536 PM.|Pontiac... 54 mph at 742 PM.|Ann Arbor... 54 mph at 719 PM.|Flint Bishop... 53 mph at 634 PM.|Howell... 53 mph at 734 PM.|Detroit…

7. Feb 22, 2023Ice Storm, Macomb$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm impacted Southeast Michigan during the daytime and evening hours of February 22, 2023. Warm/moist air originating in the Gulf of Mexico surged north toward a surface warm front, increasing coverage and intensity of precipitation over lower Michigan by mid-morning. This warmer air aloft interacted with a resident cold airmass near the surface, creating conditions favorable for snow to the north and a wintry mix for much of the metro Detroit region. The higher snow accumulations occurred across areas well north of I-69, with Midland, Bay, Tuscola, and Huron counties reporting 5 to 9 inches. Communities along and south of I-69 saw a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and…

8. Jul 21, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$5.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   July 21st was one of the hottest days of the summer in southeast Michigan, as temperatures soared into the middle to upper 90s. An extremely humid airmass was also in place, with dew points in the upper 70s. The above produced an extraordinarily unstable atmosphere, with CAPE values approaching 7000 J/kg. A weak trough of low pressure moved east into western lower Michigan during the afternoon. It was on this trough that thunderstorms first developed. Thanks to the amount of instability present, these storms rapidly became severe. Winds aloft were rather strong for mid-summer, with 40 knot winds less than a mile above ground level (at 850 mb). Thus, the storms were prodigious…

9. Dec 28, 2008High Wind, Macomb$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A rapidly deepening low pressure system tracked northeast from northern Lake Michigan, sending a strong cold front through southeast Michigan. Winds gusts of 50 to 65 mph behind the cold front lead to widespread tree branches and trees downed, along with extensive power outages, as more than 400,000 Michigan homes and businesses lost power. The majority of those customers who lost power were located in the Detroit Metro Area.

10. Apr 14, 2018Winter Storm, Macomb$5.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large and complex low pressure system impacted the Great Lakes region. Southeast Michigan saw heavy rain, snow, sleet and freezing rain that began on Friday (April 13) and lasted through Sunday (April 15). This system brought 2 main periods of precipitation, with a short break in between on Saturday. Total rainfall of 1 to 2 inches was common in many locations in Southeast Michigan, with 2-3 of snow and sleet north of I-69, and about 1/4 to 1/2 of ice from freezing rain between the I-94 and I-96 corridors. Widespread tree damage and power outages from an combination of the snow, sleet, and freezing rain occurred. In total, DTE and Consumers Energy reported power outages for…

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

106°FJul 5, 1911

All-time low

−24°FFeb 10, 1912

Warmest night

81°F2 times, most recently Jul 1, 2026

Coldest day

−4°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

4.78 inJun 26, 1968

Snowiest day

16.0 inMar 2, 1936

Hottest year

1998mean 54.4°F

Coldest year

2011mean 44.4°F

Wettest year

201742.00 in

Driest year

201314.04 in

Snowiest season

72.0 in2011-12

Station Mount Clemens Ang Base (USW00014804), 580 ft elevation, 7.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 23, 2026; 95.6% 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 USW00014804.
• 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.