Montcalm County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$14.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Michigan State Police EMD's Damage and Injury Assessment Report indicated $453,000 in public damage costs, 23 injuries, 6 individuals being sheltered, 400 homes damaged, 30 homes destroyed, 40 businesses damaged, and 50 vacation residences either damaged or destroyed. Private property damage was estimated around $13.5 Million. Most severe damage was reported in Pierson and Maple Valley Townships in the western panhandle of the county, with several cottages destroyed and damaged near and around Cody Lake and other area lakes. Significant damage was also reported in and around the city of Stanton. A team from the Michigan National Guard was deployed to the city of Stanton to assist…

2. Mar 8, 2017High Wind, Montcalm$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. Apr 17, 2013Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused significant flooding on rivers and streams across Montcalm county.

4. Feb 24, 2019High Wind, Montcalm$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downed tree limbs and power lines and widespread power outages occurred due to wind gusts of up to around 60 mph.

5. Apr 26, 2011Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trained spotters reported hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter south of Stanton and just north of Sheridan. The swath was up to one mile wide and was part of the swath that began in extreme northeast Ottawa County based on correlation with multiple spotter reports and radar hail products.

6. May 23, 2004Flood, Montcalm$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. May 18, 2020Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple lakes flooded lakeside homes and multiple roads were flooded.

8. Jun 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous reports of downed trees, limbs and power lines across Montcalm county.

9. Apr 3, 2003Ice Storm, Montcalm$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. Jul 29, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large severe weather outbreak across southern and central lower Michigan during the late afternoon and evening hours resulted in numerous reports of downed trees and power lines, and a few reports of large hail. The first reports of wind damage came from 6 miles northeast of Reed City and and 7 miles west of Evart, both in Osceola county. Numerous trees were reported down by law enforcement in those areas. The only report of large hail came from 5 miles west of Barryton, in Mecosta county, where one inch hail was reported by law enforcement. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Weidman and Blanchard (Isabella county). Numerous trees were blown down across Montcalm…

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

104°FJul 6, 2012

All-time low

−22°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

81°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−3°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

4.15 inMay 15, 2001

Snowiest day

16.1 inJan 26, 1978

Hottest year

2012mean 52.9°F

Coldest year

1972mean 45.6°F

Wettest year

201951.37 in

Driest year

199627.55 in

Snowiest season

116.0 in2013-14

Station Grand Rapids (USW00094860), 875 ft elevation, 32.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00094860.
• 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.