NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Burr Oak, MI

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated October 26, 2026

4 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Burr Oak, Michigan since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 72 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 4
Tornadoes: 72
EF3 or stronger: 10

What the records show for Burr Oak

None of the 4 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Burr Oak; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 32 miles away. The record near Burr Oak begins with an unnamed storm in 1923; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 4 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 546 Michigan cities on this site, 52% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Burr Oak. The highest rating among the 72 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on April 3, 1974, came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 11, 1965, killed 36 people. Of the 72, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 27 have come since 2000. April and May have had the most tornadoes, 19 each. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2025. Burr Oak has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 58% of the 546 Michigan cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 32 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 546 Michigan cities, 55% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Burr Oak.

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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Burr Oak

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Burr Oak, Michigan, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
2008	IkeSep 14	32 mi	Tropical storm (58 mph)	Category 4
1941	Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25	44 mi	Tropical storm (46 mph)	Category 3
1932	Unnamed 1932 stormSep 3	7 mi	Tropical storm (45 mph)	Category 1
1923	Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19	10 mi	Tropical storm (40 mph)	Tropical storm

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Burr Oak: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Burr Oak

By decade

2020s12
2010s9
2000s6(1 EF3+)
1990s1
1980s8(1 EF3+)
1970s15(2 EF3+)
1960s13(6 EF3+)
1950s8

Strongest tornadoes near Burr Oak, Michigan
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
Apr 11, 1965	F4	11 mi	37 mi	36 / 321
Apr 11, 1965	F4	23 mi	21.2 mi	31 / 252
Apr 11, 1965	F4	12 mi	90.3 mi	23 / 294
Apr 11, 1965	F4	17 mi	80.5 mi	21 / 293
Apr 3, 1974	F4	20 mi	108.7 mi	18 / 285
Apr 11, 1965	F4	9 mi	21.6 mi	5 / 41
Apr 3, 1974	F3	20 mi	36.2 mi	5 / 53
Oct 24, 2001	F3	23 mi	47 mi	1 / 2
May 15, 1986	F3	19 mi	1.2 mi	0 / 0
May 6, 1961	F3	22 mi	33.4 mi	0 / 5
Aug 6, 2024	EF2	17 mi	8.46 mi	0 / 0
May 7, 2024	EF2	8 mi	19.53 mi	0 / 1

The strongest 12 of 72, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Burr Oak

The Storm Prediction Center has 32 hail reports within 10 miles of Burr Oak since 1975, made on 23 separate days. Of these, 18 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on August 1, 2003. The most recent report is from May 7, 2024. June has the most reports, 13.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Burr Oak

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lagrange, IN, 15 miles south of Burr Oak at 900 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 17°F. May is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.9 inches; the year adds up to 38.5 inches over 73 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 140 nights a year. That 38.5 inches is more than at 116 of the 131 Michigan stations used on this site (89%). Bronson, 7 miles east, has its own station (Coldwater St School, MI): 39.2 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Lagrange, IN
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"
Jan	31	17	2.7	6
Feb	34	18	1.9	4
Mar	45	27	2.5	5
Apr	59	38	3.6	7
May	70	49	4.3	8
Jun	80	58	4.1	7
Jul	83	62	3.4	7
Aug	81	60	4.2	6
Sep	75	53	3.1	6
Oct	62	43	3.4	6
Nov	48	31	3.0	6
Dec	36	23	2.3	6
Year	59	40	38.5	73

Averages for 1991–2020 at Lagrange, IN (900 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Michigan weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Burr Oak

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 117 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Burr Oak: 116 thunderstorm wind reports and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $376,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 78 mph, on May 21, 2004.

August 13, 2011: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Burr Oak — 1 injured.
November 10, 1998: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Burr Oak — $150,000 damage.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

St. Joseph County, which includes Burr Oak, has been named in 8 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1978, 3 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 flood, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 27, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives St. Joseph County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes and inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $18.9 million a year, the 36th highest of 83 Michigan counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.4 million (60%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. 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).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Burr Oak

All Michigan cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Burr Oak with another place →

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