NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ottawa Lake, 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
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Ottawa Lake, 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, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 72
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
73 deaths in all
What the records show for Ottawa Lake
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Ottawa Lake; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 21 miles away. The record near Ottawa Lake begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 5 systems, one has come since 2000. Ottawa Lake has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 48% of the 546 Michigan cities on this site. The highest rating among the 72 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on June 5, 2010, came within 17 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 11, 1965, killed 23 people. Of the 72, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 24 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on March 30, 2025. Ottawa Lake has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 58% of the 546 Michigan cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 82 times since 1974, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Ottawa Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 546 Michigan cities.
Compare Ottawa Lake's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Ottawa Lake
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 4 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 27 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 Ottawa Lake: 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 Ottawa Lake
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s13(1 EF3+)
- 2000s4
- 1990s10
- 1980s11
- 1970s14(1 EF3+)
- 1960s11(4 EF3+)
- 1950s2(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 18 mi | 90.3 mi | 23 / 294 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 19 mi | 80.5 mi | 21 / 293 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 8 mi | 5.6 mi | 18 / 236 |
| Jun 5, 2010 | EF4 | 17 mi | 8.8 mi | 7 / 28 |
| Jun 8, 1953 | F4 | 7 mi | 5.4 mi | 4 / 18 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 10 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 17, 1963 | F3 | 23 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 15, 2023 | EF2 | 9 mi | 3.81 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF2 | 16 mi | 11.28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 2010 | EF2 | 14 mi | 13.01 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Jun 5, 2010 | EF2 | 18 mi | 7.24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1992 | F2 | 24 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 72, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ottawa Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 82 hail reports within 10 miles of Ottawa Lake since 1974, made on 51 separate days. Of these, 42 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on March 27, 1991. The most recent report is from May 26, 2020. June has the most reports, 20.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ottawa Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Toledo Express Airport, OH, 13 miles south of Ottawa Lake at 669 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 20°F. May is the wettest at 3.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.3 inches; the year adds up to 35.2 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 19 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 123 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 35.2 inches is more than at 83 of the 131 Michigan stations used on this site (63%). Lambertville, 4 miles east, has its own station (Dundee, MI): 35.0 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 35 | 20 | 2.4 | 6 | 12.3 |
| Feb | 38 | 22 | 2.3 | 6 | 10.2 |
| Mar | 48 | 30 | 2.6 | 6 | 5.3 |
| Apr | 62 | 40 | 3.5 | 7 | 1.3 |
| May | 73 | 51 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 64 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 78 | 55 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 65 | 44 | 2.6 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 51 | 35 | 2.7 | 6 | 1.7 |
| Dec | 39 | 26 | 2.4 | 6 | 6.5 |
| Year | 62 | 43 | 35.2 | 74 | 37.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Toledo Express Airport, OH (669 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 Ottawa Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 169 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ottawa Lake: 167 thunderstorm wind reports and 2 flash floods. They killed 1 person and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $3.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on April 12, 1996.
July 5, 2012: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Ottawa Lake — 1 killed, $750,000 damage.
May 9, 2000: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Ottawa Lake — 2 injured, $400,000 damage.
August 16, 1997: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Ottawa Lake — 2 injured, $5,000 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
Monroe County, which includes Ottawa Lake, has been named in 11 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on February 8, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Monroe County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for coastal flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $54.7 million a year, the 12th highest of 83 Michigan counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $34.0 million (62%), 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.