NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Flint, 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
6 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Flint, Michigan since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 102 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 6
- Tornadoes
- 102
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
121 deaths in all
What the records show for Flint
None of the 6 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Flint; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 63 mph winds when its centre passed 32 miles away. The record near Flint begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm 49 miles away. Of the 6 systems, one has come since 2000. Flint has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 76% of the 546 Michigan cities on this site. The strongest of the 102 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 8, 1953; its path came within 7 miles, and it killed 116 people. Of the 102, 16 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 23. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Flint has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 95% of the 546 Michigan cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 129 times since 1961, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Flint has more hail reports within 10 miles than 96% of the 546 Michigan cities.
Compare Flint's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Flint
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 4 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 12 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 14 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Flint: 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 Flint
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s14
- 2000s16
- 1990s22(3 EF3+)
- 1980s18(1 EF3+)
- 1970s16(1 EF3+)
- 1960s3
- 1950s5(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 1953 | F5 | 7 mi | 18.9 mi | 116 / 844 |
| May 12, 1956 | F4 | 2 mi | 6.6 mi | 3 / 116 |
| Jul 2, 1997 | F3 | 12 mi | 1.7 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Jul 2, 1997 | F3 | 10 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1996 | F3 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 8, 1984 | F3 | 2 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 1974 | F3 | 8 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 28, 2024 | EF2 | 7 mi | 5.73 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 14, 2019 | EF2 | 12 mi | 18.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 22, 2015 | EF2 | 16 mi | 11.27 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 28, 2013 | EF2 | 11 mi | 4.61 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 2013 | EF2 | 9 mi | 5.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 102, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Flint
The Storm Prediction Center has 129 hail reports within 10 miles of Flint since 1961, made on 71 separate days. Of these, 65 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 20, 2023. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. July has the most reports, 50.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Flint
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Flint 7W, MI, 4 miles west of Flint at 679 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 16°F. May is the wettest at 3.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.7 inches; the year adds up to 33.1 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 148 nights a year. Snowfall averages 40.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 33.1 inches is more than at 44 of the 131 Michigan stations used on this site (34%). Burton, 4 miles southeast, has its own station (Flint Bishop International Airport, MI): 32.1 inches a year, 1.0 less than here, and the same July average high, 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30 | 16 | 2.2 | 6 | 13.1 |
| Feb | 33 | 16 | 1.7 | 4 | 10.4 |
| Mar | 43 | 24 | 1.9 | 5 | 4.3 |
| Apr | 56 | 35 | 3.4 | 7 | 1.2 |
| May | 68 | 46 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 56 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 60 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 59 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 51 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 40 | 3.0 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 47 | 30 | 2.4 | 6 | 1.7 |
| Dec | 35 | 22 | 2.1 | 6 | 9.6 |
| Year | 57 | 38 | 33.1 | 71 | 40.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Flint 7W, MI (679 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Flint
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 233 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Flint: 223 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $3.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 23, 2004. August has had the most flash floods, 3 of 6. Of the 376 Michigan cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 300 have had fewer than Flint.
September 11, 2000: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Flint — 1 injured, $12,000 damage.
NWS: “A tree was downed onto a car on Russell Avenue near Summit Street. A woman at scene suffered a cut to her arm, necessitating a trip to the hospital.”
May 31, 2004: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Flint — 1 injured.
NWS: “A ten year old was blown off his feet and suffered cuts to the head, requiring 5 stitches.”
August 2, 2006: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Flint — $1.3 million 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Flint's 6 ZIP codes have filed 211 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1985: 67 claims (32% of all) and $258,000. The year with the most claims was 2012, with 55. 33% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 160 Michigan cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 142 have fewer than Flint.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1985 | 67 | $258,000 |
Genesee County, which includes Flint, has been named in 14 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1975, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 27, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Genesee County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $113.1 million a year, the 5th highest of 83 Michigan counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $50.9 million (45%), 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).
Flint in the notable storm records: The June 8, 1953 F5 Tornado in Michigan, near Flushing
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.