Hillsdale County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Michigan Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Hillsdale County is about the same as Michigan average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Hillsdale County is higher than Michigan average and is much higher than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #9
| Hillsdale County | 0.03 |
| Michigan | 0.04 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Hillsdale County | 0.0000 |
| Michigan | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #13
| Hillsdale County | 209.13 |
| Michigan | 140.33 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 13,962 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Hillsdale County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 27 | Cold: | 31 | Dense Fog: | 6 | Drought: | 15 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 809 | Hail: | 3,598 | Heat: | 25 | Heavy Snow: | 286 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 60 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 205 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 8,125 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 1 | Winter Storm: | 283 | Winter Weather: | 28 |
| Other: | 463 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Hillsdale County.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Hillsdale County.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Hillsdale County.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 73 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Hillsdale County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 3.7 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°52'N / 84°50'W | 41°57'N / 84°22'W | 24.50 Miles | 33 Yards | 3 | 47 | 0K | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 4.2 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°53'N / 84°50'W | 41°57'N / 84°22'W | 24.20 Miles | 1760 Yards | 3 | 47 | 25.0M | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 7.0 | 1969-07-04 | 2 | 41°59'N / 84°42'W | 41°52'N / 84°22'W | 18.70 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 9.0 | 1977-07-18 | 2 | 41°59'N / 84°36'W | 41°58'N / 84°30'W | 4.70 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 9.0 | 1991-03-27 | 3 | 41°43'N / 84°36'W | 41°47'N / 84°31'W | 5.00 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 11.1 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 41°55'N / 84°39'W | 42°05'N / 84°24'W | 17.00 Miles | 440 Yards | 2 | 31 | 2.5M | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 11.6 | 1964-08-22 | 2 | 41°42'N / 84°36'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Williams | |||
| 12.5 | 1984-09-25 | 2 | 41°56'N / 84°25'W | 2.10 Miles | 90 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Hillsdale | |
| 13.4 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 41°45'N / 84°25'W | 41°50'N / 84°23'W | 5.40 Miles | 167 Yards | 0 | 2 | 25K | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 13.8 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 41°50'N / 84°23'W | 41°51'N / 84°22'W | 0 | 3 | 25K | 0 | Lenawee | ||
| 13.9 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 41°48'N / 84°24'W | 41°49'N / 84°22'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hillsdale | ||
| 14.3 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°48'N / 85°00'W | 41°52'N / 84°50'W | 9.20 Miles | 33 Yards | 9 | 200 | 0K | 0 | Branch |
| 14.3 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 42°03'N / 84°35'W | 42°04'N / 84°30'W | 3.60 Miles | 133 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 14.4 | 1964-08-22 | 2 | 41°46'N / 84°26'W | 41°53'N / 84°18'W | 10.30 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 14.8 | 1991-03-27 | 3 | 41°39'N / 84°50'W | 41°42'N / 84°43'W | 6.40 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 18 | 25.0M | 0 | Williams |
| 14.9 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 41°49'N / 84°22'W | 41°50'N / 84°21'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lenawee | ||
| 15.9 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 41°43'N / 84°25'W | 41°47'N / 84°20'W | 5.60 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 5 | 0K | 0 | Hillsdale |
| 16.6 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°45'N / 85°05'W | 41°53'N / 84°50'W | 15.50 Miles | 1333 Yards | 9 | 200 | 250.0M | 0 | Branch |
| 16.7 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 42°04'N / 84°30'W | 42°05'N / 84°28'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Jackson | ||
| 17.3 | 1986-05-15 | 3 | 41°56'N / 84°58'W | 1.20 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Branch | |
| 17.5 | 1969-08-15 | 2 | 41°38'N / 84°47'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Steuben | |||
| 18.0 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 41°47'N / 84°20'W | 41°50'N / 84°16'W | 4.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lenawee |
| 18.7 | 1975-05-21 | 2 | 41°55'N / 85°00'W | 0.80 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Branch | |
| 19.3 | 1983-06-30 | 2 | 41°59'N / 84°59'W | 1.00 Mile | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Branch | |
| 21.0 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 42°05'N / 84°24'W | 42°07'N / 84°22'W | 1.30 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Jackson |
| 21.6 | 1969-09-06 | 2 | 41°42'N / 85°00'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Steuben | |||
| 22.2 | 1961-05-06 | 3 | 41°33'N / 84°48'W | 41°34'N / 84°45'W | 1.90 Miles | 813 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Williams |
| 24.6 | 1991-03-27 | 3 | 41°32'N / 85°04'W | 41°39'N / 84°50'W | 14.60 Miles | 200 Yards | 1 | 6 | 25.0M | 0 | Steuben |
| 25.4 | 1983-05-01 | 2 | 42°00'N / 84°11'W | 1.90 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lenawee | |
| 25.7 | 1974-04-03 | 3 | 41°34'N / 85°13'W | 41°44'N / 84°53'W | 20.50 Miles | 333 Yards | 2 | 15 | 0K | 0 | Steuben |
| 26.2 | 1964-08-22 | 3 | 42°00'N / 84°10'W | 0 | 2 | 25K | 0 | Lenawee | |||
| 26.2 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°44'N / 85°10'W | 41°45'N / 85°05'W | 3.80 Miles | 333 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Steuben |
| 26.7 | 1955-08-06 | 2 | 42°06'N / 84°20'W | 42°09'N / 84°11'W | 7.90 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Jackson |
| 26.8 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°57'N / 84°22'W | 42°00'N / 83°55'W | 23.20 Miles | 1760 Yards | 5 | 42 | 25.0M | 0 | Lenawee |
| 26.8 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°57'N / 84°22'W | 42°00'N / 83°55'W | 23.20 Miles | 33 Yards | 4 | 41 | 0K | 0 | Lenawee |
| 28.5 | 1961-05-06 | 3 | 41°33'N / 85°12'W | 41°33'N / 84°48'W | 20.50 Miles | 800 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Steuben |
| 28.6 | 1957-07-04 | 2 | 41°28'N / 84°34'W | 41°27'N / 84°30'W | 2.70 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Williams |
| 29.6 | 1965-08-25 | 2 | 41°30'N / 84°24'W | 41°32'N / 84°13'W | 9.40 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Williams |
| 29.8 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 42°11'N / 84°15'W | 2.00 Miles | 90 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Jackson | |
| 30.4 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 41°47'N / 85°15'W | 41°48'N / 85°12'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Branch | ||
| 31.1 | 1992-07-12 | 2 | 41°32'N / 84°14'W | 2.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 8 | 2.5M | 0 | Fulton | |
| 32.0 | 1983-05-01 | 2 | 41°59'N / 84°06'W | 42°02'N / 84°00'W | 5.90 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lenawee |
| 32.6 | 1960-06-15 | 2 | 42°15'N / 84°20'W | 42°15'N / 84°13'W | 5.60 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Jackson |
| 33.7 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 41°45'N / 85°19'W | 41°47'N / 85°15'W | 3.30 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | St. Joseph |
| 34.8 | 2001-10-24 | 2 | 41°28'N / 85°12'W | 41°32'N / 85°01'W | 7.00 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 1.0M | 0 | De Kalb |
| Brief Description: On Wednesday 10/24/01 a surface low pressure system tracked rapidly northeast from the mid Mississippi Valley to northern Lake Michigan and deepened significantly. The accompanying cold front surged east from the Mississippi Valley during the afternoon to southeast Michigan and western Ohio in the evening. The deepening surface low was the result of a negatively tilted upper level trough approaching the Mississippi Valley. The air mass ahead of the cold front was quite unstable with lifted indices around -5C and surface dewpoints of 65-70F. Strong veering wind fields were over the area with 20-30kt S-SSE flow at the surface veering rapidly in the low levels to southwest at 45kts, then remaining unidirectional above with wind speeds increasing to 65kt at 20,000 ft. An area of Thunderstorms across Illinois in the early afternoon formed into a line as they moved into northwest Indiana. Two strong bow echoes developed over northwest and north central Indiana during the late afternoon and moved northeast at 50 MPH into southern Michigan. Numerous tornadoes occurred in the comma heads of the bow echoes. Isolated supercells ahead of the main squall line produced little severe weather except for a tornado that occurred over northwest Ohio in the evening when the squall line merged with a supercell. | |||||||||||
| 35.0 | 1966-07-09 | 2 | 41°56'N / 85°19'W | 0.50 Mile | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | St. Joseph | |
| 35.4 | 1983-05-01 | 2 | 41°58'N / 83°58'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lenawee | |
| 35.9 | 1986-07-15 | 2 | 42°24'N / 85°11'W | 42°15'N / 84°45'W | 22.50 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Calhoun |
| 38.2 | 1991-03-27 | 3 | 42°23'N / 84°54'W | 2.00 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 18 | 250K | 0 | Calhoun | |
| 38.4 | 1974-04-03 | 3 | 41°31'N / 85°17'W | 41°34'N / 85°13'W | 4.30 Miles | 1000 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lagrange |
| 38.8 | 1992-07-14 | 2 | 41°27'N / 85°09'W | 41°27'N / 85°09'W | 4.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | De Kalb |
| 39.8 | 1971-08-10 | 2 | 41°18'N / 84°48'W | 0.50 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Defiance | |
| 40.6 | 1982-06-15 | 3 | 42°21'N / 84°22'W | 42°24'N / 84°08'W | 10.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 1 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Jackson |
| 40.7 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 41°41'N / 85°30'W | 41°45'N / 85°19'W | 10.10 Miles | 127 Yards | 0 | 8 | 25K | 0 | Lagrange |
| 40.9 | 1961-05-06 | 3 | 41°32'N / 85°25'W | 41°33'N / 85°12'W | 11.00 Miles | 800 Yards | 0 | 5 | 2.5M | 0 | Lagrange |
| 41.2 | 1992-07-14 | 2 | 41°27'N / 85°17'W | 41°27'N / 85°09'W | 4.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 28 | 25.0M | 0 | Noble |
| 42.6 | 1979-06-20 | 2 | 41°44'N / 83°50'W | 0.60 Mile | 27 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lenawee | |
| 43.4 | 1955-07-06 | 2 | 41°55'N / 85°29'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | St. Joseph | |||
| 44.2 | 1977-04-02 | 4 | 42°26'N / 85°01'W | 42°32'N / 84°43'W | 16.60 Miles | 613 Yards | 1 | 44 | 2.5M | 0 | Eaton |
| 44.2 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 41°38'N / 85°40'W | 41°44'N / 85°16'W | 21.60 Miles | 177 Yards | 5 | 41 | 2.5M | 0 | Lagrange |
| 44.4 | 2010-06-05 | 2 | 41°29'N / 84°00'W | 41°31'N / 83°52'W | 7.00 Miles | 700 Yards | 0 | 0 | 500K | 0K | Fulton |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: The tornado touched down along Highway 109 just north of County Road A and moved northeast, impacting several homes, trees and power lines. Several homes were severely damaged or destroyed (DI:FR12 DOD: 8). However, improper anchoring of some of the homes resulted in a failure on all walls, resulting in their destruction. Several trees were uprooted or damaged, including through the Maumee State Forest. The tornado ended near the Fulton/Lucas county line. The maximum width of the tornado was around 700 yards with maximum wind speeds estimated around 130 mph. Damage is estimated at $500,000. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A warm front worked north towards lower Michigan during the evening hours of the 5th. Storms were initially slow to organize, but quickly intensified and became supercellular. One of these storms tracked into Fulton county and quickly spawned a tornado north of Liberty Center. The tornado remained on the ground for roughly 7 miles producing damage along its track before dissipating near the Fulton/Lucas county line. | |||||||||||
| 44.6 | 1991-03-27 | 2 | 42°27'N / 84°26'W | 42°31'N / 84°21'W | 5.00 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Ingham |
| 44.6 | 1970-05-12 | 2 | 41°26'N / 84°12'W | 41°14'N / 84°06'W | 14.40 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Henry |
| 45.3 | 1955-05-28 | 2 | 42°07'N / 85°38'W | 42°25'N / 85°03'W | 36.20 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Kalamazoo |
| 45.8 | 1953-06-08 | 3 | 42°12'N / 84°00'W | 42°15'N / 83°47'W | 11.30 Miles | 70 Yards | 1 | 5 | 25K | 0 | Washtenaw |
| 46.2 | 1956-04-03 | 2 | 41°38'N / 85°29'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Lagrange | |||
| 46.2 | 1982-06-15 | 3 | 42°24'N / 84°08'W | 42°25'N / 84°06'W | 3.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Washtenaw |
| 46.7 | 1974-04-03 | 3 | 41°25'N / 85°28'W | 41°31'N / 85°17'W | 11.40 Miles | 150 Yards | 3 | 38 | 25.0M | 0 | Noble |
| 47.0 | 1986-07-12 | 2 | 41°14'N / 84°21'W | 41°13'N / 84°19'W | 3.30 Miles | 73 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Defiance |
| 47.5 | 2000-06-14 | 2 | 41°17'N / 85°09'W | 41°17'N / 85°07'W | 3.00 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 200K | 0 | De Kalb |
| Brief Description: The tornado touched down on CR 64, one half mile west of Indian Springs Camp Ground. Trees and power lines were knocked down and many were snapped and uprooted. Extensive roof damage occurred to houses in the area. A barn was damaged with much of its roof torn off and outbuildings were either damaged or destroyed. The tornado then lifted back into its parent cloud. Synoptic and mesoscale conditions for June 14th... A significant mid-level shortwave trough was located over Iowa on the morning of June 14th with an outflow dominated squall line across western Illinois. Rapid destabilization ensued later in the morning across eastern Illinois and northern Indiana with CAPES to 3500 j/kg by early afternoon. VAD wind profiles showed 850 millibar winds in excess of 50 knots in advance of the upper trough by afternoon and as storms developed along the left over outflow boundary across Illinois... they quickly became severe and organized into a large bow echo and moved quickly eastward into northern Indiana causing extensive wind damage. By late afternoon... a short segmented squall line developed just ahead of this bow echo squall line and extended from a St. Joseph to Fulton county line. Along the southern end of this line... an embedded tornadic supercell developed and interacted with a left over storm-scale outflow boundary to produce the Wabash/Kosciusko and DeKalb county tornadoes. The lack of significant low level shear likely prevented a much larger and more widespread tornado event especially across Whitley and Allen counties where several funnel clouds were captured on film but failed to touch down. | |||||||||||
| 48.6 | 1977-04-02 | 2 | 42°31'N / 84°17'W | 1.50 Miles | 57 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Ingham | |
| 49.1 | 1990-06-02 | 2 | 42°19'N / 84°05'W | 42°23'N / 83°48'W | 15.00 Miles | 160 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Washtenaw |
| 49.8 | 1988-08-14 | 2 | 42°29'N / 84°10'W | 42°28'N / 84°05'W | 23.30 Miles | 127 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Livingston |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.