NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Grand Haven, 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
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Grand Haven, Michigan since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1941. Since 1950, 37 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 37
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
22 deaths in all
What the records show for Grand Haven
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Grand Haven; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 61 mph winds when its centre crossed the city. The record near Grand Haven begins with an unnamed storm in 1900; the most recent system was an unnamed storm in 1941, a tropical storm 41 miles away. Of the 546 Michigan cities on this site, 75% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Grand Haven. The strongest of the 37 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 3, 1956; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 17 people. Of the 37, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 11 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Of the 546 Michigan cities, 72% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Grand Haven. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 34 times since 1961, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 546 Michigan cities, 51% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Grand Haven.
Compare Grand Haven's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Grand Haven
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | overhead | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Grand Haven: 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 Grand Haven
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s3
- 2000s4
- 1990s3
- 1980s1
- 1970s9
- 1960s8(2 EF3+)
- 1950s5(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1956 | F5 | 17 mi | 58.8 mi | 17 / 292 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 14 mi | 20.6 mi | 5 / 142 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F3 | 23 mi | 13.6 mi | 0 / 32 |
| Jun 20, 1974 | F2 | 24 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1966 | F2 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 4, 1965 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 4, 1965 | F2 | 5 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 22, 1961 | F2 | 19 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 22, 1957 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 6, 1956 | F2 | 7 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 24, 2023 | EF1 | 23 mi | 8.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 1991 | F1 | 2 mi | 0.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 37, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Grand Haven
The Storm Prediction Center has 34 hail reports within 10 miles of Grand Haven since 1961, made on 30 separate days. Of these, 16 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 5 days, most recently April 11, 2001. The most recent report is from April 25, 2016. July has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Grand Haven
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Muskegon Co Airport, MI, 9 miles north of Grand Haven at 625 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 21°F. October is the wettest at 3.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.1 inches; the year adds up to 35.2 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 130 nights a year. Snowfall averages 87.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 35.2 inches is more than at 84 of the 131 Michigan stations used on this site (64%). West Olive, 8 miles south, has its own station (Holland Tulip City Airport, MI): 35.0 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and the same July average high, 82°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Holland, MI, 19 miles south, averaged 71°F in July and 34°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 21 | 2.4 | 7 | 29.1 | 34 |
| Feb | 35 | 21 | 2.1 | 5 | 20.0 | 34 |
| Mar | 44 | 27 | 2.4 | 6 | 7.5 | 38 |
| Apr | 57 | 37 | 3.5 | 7 | 1.8 | 48 |
| May | 68 | 48 | 3.4 | 7 | 0.0 | 55 |
| Jun | 78 | 57 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 | 65 |
| Jul | 82 | 62 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.0 | 71 |
| Aug | 80 | 61 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 | 70 |
| Sep | 73 | 54 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 | 68 |
| Oct | 61 | 43 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 | 59 |
| Nov | 48 | 34 | 2.9 | 7 | 6.5 | 49 |
| Dec | 37 | 26 | 2.4 | 7 | 22.3 | 37 |
| Year | 58 | 41 | 35.2 | 76 | 87.2 | 52 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Muskegon Co Airport, MI (625 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Holland, MI, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Grand Haven
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 59 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Grand Haven: 56 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 floods. They killed 5 people and injured 23, and the NWS estimated $56.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 87 mph, on July 7, 2017.
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Grand Haven — 1 killed, 20 injured, $44.6 million damage.
June 8, 2008: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Grand Haven — 1 killed, 1 injured.
July 7, 2017: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Grand Haven — 1 killed, $250,000 damage.
NWS: “A large tree fell on a home in Grand Haven and killed a 72 year old man. An 88 mph measured wind gust was recorded at Grand Valley State University in Allendale.”
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 Grand Haven's ZIP code 49417 have filed 96 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1985: 13 claims (14% of all) and $328,000. The year with the most claims was 2013, with 17. 19% 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, 134 have fewer than Grand Haven.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1985 | 13 | $328,000 |
Ottawa County, which includes Grand Haven, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 27, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Ottawa County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $68.2 million a year, the 9th highest of 83 Michigan counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $44.6 million (65%), 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.