Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Dowagiac, MI

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

5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Dowagiac, Michigan since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 76 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
5

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
76

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
4

1 deaths in all

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Dowagiac

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Dowagiac, Michigan, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2008IkeSep 1464 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1941Unnamed 1941 stormSep 254 miTropical storm (45 mph)Category 3
1932Unnamed 1932 stormSep 328 miTropical storm (45 mph)Category 1
1923Unnamed 1923 stormOct 1929 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 1170 miTropical storm (60 mph)Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Dowagiac: 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 Dowagiac

By decade

  • 2020s4
  • 2010s13
  • 2000s9(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s5
  • 1980s14(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s13
  • 1960s10(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s8(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Dowagiac, Michigan
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Oct 24, 2001F311 mi47 mi1 / 2
May 13, 1980F316 mi21 mi0 / 15
Apr 30, 1962F319 mi36.5 mi0 / 49
Apr 3, 1956F318 mi60.6 mi0 / 12
Aug 6, 2024EF219 mi8.46 mi0 / 0
Jun 5, 2010EF23 mi2.73 mi0 / 0
Jun 5, 2010EF216 mi3.38 mi0 / 0
Oct 24, 2001F223 mi4.6 mi0 / 3
Aug 25, 1998F214 mi26 mi0 / 0
Jul 13, 1992F23 mi4 mi0 / 25
Sep 29, 1986F219 mi3.8 mi0 / 1
Jun 19, 1986F29 mi1.3 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 76, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Dowagiac while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

Other cities in Michigan