Mecosta County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Mecosta$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.

2. Jan 30, 2013Flood$4.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A significant ice jam on the Muskegon River resulted in evacuations of over a dozen homes along the Muskegon River near Rogers Heights, all of which were flooded. Riverside Drive and 183rd Avenue (12th Mile Road) in particular were local areas of particularly significant flooding.

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

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

4. May 11, 2022Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding from heavy rain resulted in road closures and damage to roads, bridges and culverts in Big Rapids with businesses and public spaces impacted. Ferris State University had multiple buildings take on water.

5. Oct 6, 1998Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down on Ferris State University in Big Rapids, 7 students injured, 5 others treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. The most serious injury was a broken arm.

6. May 23, 2004Flood, Mecosta$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. Apr 4, 2011Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A local State of Emergency was declared for Mecosta County as a result of extensive heavy rainfall and melting snow during the early morning hours of April 4, 2011, causing widespread flood damage to public and individual property. Numerous roads were washed out and/or covered with water. A significant thoroughfare, M-20, was temporarily closed when overflow from Schrader Creek resulted in 6 inches of moving water over the road. Over a dozen homes along Harding Road and 17 Mile were surrounded by water, with several homes with water up to their foundations.

8. Feb 5, 2019Ice Storm, Mecosta$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

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

   Emergency management reported that numerous trees were blown down with power outages in Big Rapids and that a trailer was blown over.

10. Aug 2, 2011Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Cars floated in flood waters on State street in Big Rapids as reported by emergency management. County emergency management also reported that numerous other roads in and near Big Rapids experienced some flooding. ||One of the washed out roads stranded over 800 Boy Scouts at a local camp in Mecosta County. Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan reported 25 buildings on campus with water damage.

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°F3 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−36°FFeb 11, 1899

Warmest night

78°FJul 21, 1901

Coldest day

−4°FFeb 11, 1899

Wettest day

7.64 inSep 11, 1986

Snowiest day

14.0 in3 times, most recently Feb 2, 2011

Hottest year

1921mean 49.8°F

Coldest year

1967mean 41.4°F

Wettest year

200648.65 in

Driest year

195523.39 in

Snowiest season

115.3 in1951-52

Station Big Rapids Water Plant (USC00200779), 898 ft elevation, 6.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 27, 2026; 96.3% 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 USC00200779.
• 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.