Wexford County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Wexford 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. Jun 12, 2008Flash Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding developed in southern Wexford County, with isolated flooding in the north, thanks to three to six inches of rainfall in a few hours either side of midnight. Numerous roads were washed out, especially on the northwest side of Lake Cadillac, and near and north of Mesick. One hundred and fifty homes were impacted by high water.

2. Oct 4, 2006Tornado$260,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief tornado occurred west of Cadillac, along Benson Road just south of M-55. A garage and part of a kitchen was ripped off of a home and destroyed. The owner was asleep in a bedroom on the other side of the house, and was not injured. An aluminum shed in the yard was wrapped around a tree. A home across the street was shifted slightly off its foundation. A few other nearby homes suffered shingle damage. Several large pine trees were uprooted.

3. Mar 2, 2012Heavy Snow, Wexford$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One of the highest-impact snowstorms in recent memory pounded Northern Michigan on the night of the 2nd. Low pressure tracked from Missouri, to southern Lower Michigan, and on to eastern Canada, while rapidly strengthening. Precipitation surged northward into the region on the evening of the 2nd. This was primarily snow, except in parts of east central Lower Michigan (especially near Lake Huron), where temperatures were mild enough for rain. Snow wound down on the morning of the 3rd, and though somewhat blustery winds occurred behind the system on the 3rd, blowing snow was limited because the snowfall was so wet.|Snow totals ranged from 6 to 14 inches across most of Northern…

4. Apr 14, 2014Flood$110,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two areas of concentrated flooding occurred in Wexford County, with a number of road closures. One was along Lake Mitchell, just west of Cadillac. The other was along the Manistee River in far northern sections of the county. Water entered multiple homes at both locations.

5. Jun 13, 2008Flood$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding lingered for several days after the heavy rain event ended, mainly on the Manistee River and its larger tributaries. The Manistee River at Sherman established a new flood of record on the 14th, reaching 16.4 feet. Several homes just above Hodenpyl Dam Pond had to be evacuated.

6. Jul 25, 2012Flash Flood$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms dumped around 4 inches of rain along the M-115 corridor in Wexford County. Cadillac picked up 3.12 inches of rain between 9 and 11 pm EDT, while Meauwataka had a total of 4.10 inches by morning. Northwest of Cadillac, over two feet of water covered roads at the intersection of M-115 and East 35 Road. In the Mesick area, M-37 was partially washed out, reducing traffic to one lane.

7. Oct 18, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees and large limbs were knocked down in Cadillac. One mobile home in Country Acres was destroyed by a falling tree.

8. Jun 8, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines downed. Several vehicles, and the roof of a residence, were heavily damaged by falling trees.

9. Aug 28, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple trees were downed west of Cadillac, blocking some roads in the area.

10. Oct 18, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A number of trees were downed by thunderstorm winds. Four vehicles were destroyed or damaged by falling trees.

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

99°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1995

All-time low

−43°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

78°FJun 22, 1964

Coldest day

−4°FJan 16, 1972

Wettest day

6.10 inJun 13, 2008

Snowiest day

14.0 inJan 1, 1985

Hottest year

2024mean 47.3°F

Coldest year

1989mean 40.3°F

Wettest year

198547.27 in

Driest year

195523.01 in

Station Cadillac (USW00014817), 1,295 ft elevation, 5.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 96.8% 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 USW00014817.
• 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.