Mason County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Mason$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A peak wind gust of 55 mph was measured at Ludington and peak gusts were estimated at up to 60 mph which resulted in numerous downed trees and limbs and power lines and widespread power outages.

2. Jun 13, 2008Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Michigan Department of Transportation shut down U.S. 31 from Manistee to Scottville when the road washed out. There were four washouts on M-116 on the drive to Ludington State Park. One of those washouts was eight feet deep. The Department of Natural Resources evacuated and then closed Ludington State Park due to flooding and concerns about the Hamlin Lake Dam. Mason county officials shut down 47 roads due to flooding and washouts. ||Damage to public infrastructure (mostly road and bridge washouts) was estimated to have reached close to three million dollars for this event. A presidential disaster declaration for flooding was issued for Mason county. The hardest hit areas…

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

   Significant flooding occurred on rivers and streams across Mason county due to significant rainfall from early to mid April.

4. May 23, 2004Flood, Mason$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. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Michigan Department of State Police - Emergency Management Division's (EMD's) Damage and Injury Assessment Report indicated $398,000 in public damage costs, 66 homes damaged, 3 homes destroyed, and 4 businesses damaged. Five injuries were reported, one of which required hospitilization. In addition, 12 vacation/secondary residences incurred major damage and 9 had minor damage. Newspaper and media reports indicated public and private damage costs combined exceeded $1.0 Million. Mason County declared a local state of emergency and was granted a Governor's disaster declaration to activate state assistance for the county. On June 24th, President Clinton granted a Major Disaster…

6. Jul 20, 2019Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six to ten inches of rain resulted in several road washouts, a few culvert failures and a couple of bridge washouts.

7. Apr 12, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down and buildings and homes were damaged in Summit and Riverton townships.

8. Jul 19, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mason county emergency management reported that numerous trees were blown down across Mason county.

9. Apr 3, 2003Ice Storm, Mason$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. Aug 28, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Wind gusts of up to near 80 mph brought down several trees across portions of Mason county. Extensive tree damage was found along a twenty mile swath starting at Tamarack Park and ending near Lake Emerson. Power poles were also destroyed along Maple road.

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

100°FAug 5, 1947

All-time low

−38°FFeb 11, 1899

Warmest night

81°FJul 15, 1931

Coldest day

−2°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

7.01 inJun 13, 2008

Snowiest day

24.0 inJan 23, 1898

Hottest year

2012mean 51.1°F

Coldest year

1992mean 39.9°F

Wettest year

200850.71 in

Driest year

195522.09 in

Snowiest season

140.5 in1970-71

Station Manistee 3SE (USC00205065), 670 ft elevation, 16.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1888 to September 30, 2026; 97.4% 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 USC00205065.
• 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.