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    Michigan Storm Alerts

    Active National Weather Service hail, wind, thunderstorm, tornado, tropical and winter storm alerts covering Michigan, with the counties each one names and the office that issued it — plus what the state’s severe-weather season looks like and how each of these events actually damages a roof.

    Below that, in its own lane, the smoke and fire family: fire weather, dense smoke, air quality, blowing dust and volcanic ashfall.

    1 active alert · read from the National Weather Service at Oct 10, 7:19 AM EDT · refreshed every 10 minutes

    This page is informational and is not a safety resource. It exists to show roofing professionals where storm damage has been reported, and it is refreshed on a ten-minute cycle, so it can lag the Weather Service.

    During an active weather event, the authority is weather.gov and your local emergency management agency. Follow them, not this page.

    Active storm alerts in Michigan

    Reproduced exactly as the National Weather Service issued them. Alerts frequently cross state lines, so a county list may name counties in a neighbouring state. Smoke and fire alerts are reported separately, in their own lane below.

    Special Weather Statement

    ModerateUrgencyExpectedCertaintyObserved

    Issued by NWS Marquette MI

    In effect from Oct 9, 2:49 PM local · until Oct 10, 5:00 PM local

    Counties named in this alert

    • Keweenaw
    • Houghton
    • Baraga
    • Marquette
    • Alger
    • Luce
    • Iron
    • Dickinson
    • Menominee
    • Delta
    • Southern Schoolcraft
    • Southern Houghton
    • Northern Schoolcraft
    • Western Chippewa
    • Central Chippewa
    • Southeast Chippewa
    • Western Mackinac
    • Eastern Mackinac
    Read the full National Weather Service text

    NWS headline

    Special Weather Statement issued October 9 at 2:49PM EDT by NWS Marquette MI

    NWS description

    Gusty southerly winds as high as 30mph, combined with dry and warm conditions and minimal recent rainfall will lead to elevated wildfire potential this weekend across most of the U.P. Obey local burn restrictions. Immediately report any wildfires to local emergency services by calling 911. Burn restrictions remain in effect. For complete details, visit www.dnr.state.mi.us/burnpermits, or by calling 866-922-2876.

    View this alert on weather.gov

    Radar over Michigan

    Straight from radar.weather.gov and regenerated by NOAA roughly every two minutes.

    NWS radar — the Central Great Lakes

    National Weather Service radar for the Central Great Lakes, covering Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

    Where precipitation is falling over Michigan right now. The National Weather Service publishes these mosaics by region rather than by state, so the frame runs past the state line and neighbouring states are visible in it. Radar shows precipitation, not damage — a return over a county is not evidence that any particular building was hit.

    Radar imagery: the National Weather Service. Served directly from radar.weather.gov, a free US Government service, and regenerated by NOAA roughly every two minutes — your browser picks up new frames on its own. This site does not process, re-colour or re-time the imagery; it is the Weather Service’s own mosaic, unmodified. weather.gov

    This radar is informational and is not a safety resource. During an active weather event, the authority is weather.gov and your local emergency management agency. Follow them, not this page.

    Smoke & fire lane

    Smoke & fire alerts in Michigan

    The National Weather Service issues a separate family of alerts for fire weather, dense smoke, air quality, blowing dust and volcanic ashfall. This lane reports that family for Michigan, kept apart from the storm alerts above because the two answer different questions.

    Wildfire smoke is what drives smoke-damage losses, and it reaches a building through the same vents that keep an attic dry — which is why it belongs on a roofing page at all. Alerts describing particulate already in the air are listed ahead of fire-weather forecasts; that ordering is this lane’s own and is not a Weather Service ranking.

    1 active smoke or fire alert · read from the National Weather Service at Oct 10, 7:19 AM EDT · refreshed every 10 minutes

    Red Flag Warning

    Fire weatherSevereUrgencyExpectedCertaintyLikely

    Issued by NWS Marquette MI

    In effect from Oct 10, 12:00 PM local · until Oct 11, 6:00 PM local

    Counties named in this alert

    • Ontonagon
    • Gogebic
    Read the full National Weather Service text

    NWS headline

    Red Flag Warning issued October 10 at 2:58AM EDT until October 11 at 6:00PM EDT by NWS Marquette MI

    NWS description

    * AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zone 002 Ontonagon and Fire Weather Zone 009 Gogebic. * TIMING...From noon EDT /11 AM CDT/ today to 6 PM EDT /5 PM CDT/ Sunday. * WINDS...Today, south 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. Sunday, south 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY...Today, as low as 32 percent. Recover to 55-60 percent tonight. Sunday, as low as 32 percent. * IMPACTS...Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

    NWS instructions

    A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures and exceptionally dry fuels will create dangerous wildland fire conditions. Campfires, outdoor grills, smoking materials, fireworks, chain saws, and all-terrain vehicles all have the potential to throw a spark and ignite a dangerous and destructive fire.

    View this alert on weather.gov

    The 12 alert types this lane reports

    Every one is a National Weather Service product and is listed under the name the Weather Service gives it. Grouping them into families is ours; the names are not.

    Fire weather
    Fire WarningExtreme Fire DangerRed Flag WarningFire Weather Watch
    Dense smoke
    Dense Smoke Advisory
    Air quality
    Air Quality Alert
    Blowing dust
    Blowing Dust WarningDust Storm WarningBlowing Dust AdvisoryDust Advisory
    Volcanic ashfall
    Ashfall WarningAshfall Advisory

    The Weather Service defines each of these products and this site does not attempt to. What any one of them means, and the criteria an office issues it under, are at weather.gov.

    This lane is informational and is not a safety resource. It reports which National Weather Service smoke and fire alerts are active and where, on a ten-minute refresh cycle, so it can lag the Weather Service.

    During an active weather event, the authority is weather.gov and your local emergency management agency. Follow them, not this page.

    Smoke exposure and air quality are health matters, and this page does not address them. It does not tell you whether it is safe to be outdoors or to work, what an air quality index number means for you or for anyone in your household, or what respiratory protection to use. Those questions belong with a clinician and with the agency that issued the alert. The federal air-quality authority is airnow.gov.

    What smoke does to a roof assembly

    An active alert is a record of conditions, not a finding about any building. These are the standing references on the building-assembly side of a smoke or fire loss.

    Smoke odor in roof decking and attic insulationWhy odor outlives the visible repairs — deposition into bare decking and framing, insulation acting as a reservoir, and the difference between cleaning, sealing and removing. The article that covers wildfire smoke reaching an attic through the vents, with the roof itself untouched.Fire damage to a roof assemblyDirect flame against radiant heat, shingle distortion and mat delamination, charred sheathing and loss of section, and why a roof that looks intact from the ground can still be condemned.Roof replacement after a fireHow the repair-or-replace decision is built on a fire loss: partial against full deck replacement, the boundary between charred and heat-affected wood, matching, and the code upgrades a repair can trigger.Ventilation holes and fire department roof damageFire crews cut the roof on purpose. What vertical ventilation is for, how tactical damage is separated from fire damage in a scope, and what an opened deck needs in the meantime.Smoke Mitigation Network — directory listingLaboratory smoke damage testing and documentation, listed under Restoration & Mitigation → Smoke Damage Testing & Assessment. Whether a building is contaminated is established by sampling rather than by looking at it. The listing discloses that it shares ownership with this directory.

    Severe weather season in Michigan

    Peak season

    May–August for severe, November–March for winter

    Michigan’s severe season runs from late spring through summer, with damaging straight-line wind and hail the routine roofing events. The Great Lakes then drive the other half of the year: lake-effect snow can load roofs heavily and very unevenly on the downwind side of both peninsulas. Ice storms are an occasional third mechanism, bringing limbs down rather than lifting coverings.

    Seasons describe a pattern, not a schedule. The National Weather Service issues these products year-round, and the live list above is the only authority on what is actually running in Michigan right now.

    What NOAA has recorded in Michigan

    The archived record, not the live feed. Severe weather logged by the National Centers for Environmental Information over the covered years, split into the events NOAA keys to a county and the events it keys to a forecast zone.

    Between 2016 and 2026, NOAA recorded 3,983 county-level severe-weather events across Michigan: 2,897 thunderstorm wind events, 925 hail reports and 161 tornadoes. Of the 925 hail reports carrying a measured size, 656 were 1.00 in across or larger.

    A further 2,527 events over the same period were recorded against National Weather Service forecast zones rather than counties — 1,542 winter storms, 394 high wind events, 268 heavy snow events, 141 blizzards and 132 ice storms. A forecast zone is not a county: it can span several or subdivide one, so these are reported here at state level and appear in no county total on this site.

    County-keyed events

    3,983

    2016–2026

    Zone-keyed events

    2,527

    statewide, not county-attributable

    Hail 1.00 in or larger

    656

    of 925 sized hail reports

    Tornadoes

    161

    in the county record

    Counties with the heaviest record

    Ranked by the number of county-keyed events NOAA recorded, 2016–2026. 83 of Michigan’s counties carry a record in this dataset.

    • Oakland County205largest hail 2.00 in (Baseball) · peak gust 70 kt (about 81 mph)
    • Marquette County187largest hail 1.75 in (Golf Ball) · peak gust 83 kt (about 96 mph)
    • Wayne County177largest hail 1.75 in (Golf Ball) · peak gust 66 kt (about 76 mph)
    • Macomb County137largest hail 1.75 in (Golf Ball) · peak gust 65 kt (about 75 mph)
    • Washtenaw County133largest hail 2.00 in (Baseball) · peak gust 62 kt (about 71 mph)
    • Berrien County124largest hail 2.00 in (Baseball) · peak gust 68 kt (about 78 mph)
    • Monroe County112largest hail 2.00 in (Baseball) · peak gust 70 kt (about 81 mph)
    • St. Joseph County109largest hail 4.00 in (Softball+) · peak gust 70 kt (about 81 mph)

    Preliminary — not yet in the permanent archive

    376 further preliminary storm reports have been filed against Michigan counties since June 1, 2026. They are counted separately from every archived figure above and are not added to any of them.

    Preliminary reports covering 2026-05-31 onward come from National Weather Service storm reports filed as events occur. They have not yet been through the quality-control review that produces the permanent archive, and individual reports may later be revised, combined or withdrawn.

    County figures and state figures. County figures count events NOAA recorded against a county (hail, thunderstorm wind and tornadoes). High wind, winter storms, ice storms, blizzards, heavy snow, hurricanes and tropical storms are recorded against National Weather Service forecast zones rather than counties, so they are reported at state level instead. Counts reflect events that were observed and reported.

    Source. Archived figures come from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information Storm Events Database, covering 2016 through May 31, 2026. Reports after that date come from NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports. Both are US Government works in the public domain. This is a record of past weather; the live alert list at the top of this page is the only authority on what is running in Michigan now.

    What these storms do to a roof

    The damage mechanisms that matter in Michigan, in the order they generate work here.

    Hail

    Hail damages an asphalt shingle in two ways at once. The impact knocks granules off the surface, and it can bruise or fracture the asphalt mat underneath without breaking the surface open. Granules are what shield the asphalt from ultraviolet light, so a roof that has lost them ages faster from that point on. A fractured mat is the reason hail damage is often described as latent: the roof may not leak the week of the storm, and the failure shows up later. On metal panels and metal accessories, hail leaves dents, which raises the separate question of whether the damage is cosmetic or has actually compromised the panel or its coating.

    Straight-line wind

    Wind damage on a shingle roof usually starts as a broken seal rather than a missing shingle. Uplift pressure is highest at the edges — rakes, eaves, ridges and hips — and along any line where the roof plane changes, so that is where tabs lift and the factory sealant strip lets go first. Once the seal is broken, a shingle that still looks fine from the ground is no longer bonded to the course below it and every later wind event works on the same spot. Wind also drives debris, and impact damage from a branch or from another roof’s material is a separate mechanism from uplift.

    Ice storms

    An ice storm coats a roof, and everything above it, in accreted ice. The weight on the roof itself is one part of it; the larger roofing consequence is usually what the same ice does to trees and limbs overhead, which then come down onto the covering. Ice accretion also works into any existing gap — a lifted shingle, an open seam, a tired flashing — and freeze-thaw cycling widens what it gets into.

    Snow load and winter storms

    Winter loads a roof rather than striking it. Accumulated snow is a sustained weight on the structure, and drifting means the load is rarely spread evenly — it piles against ridges, dormers, valleys and the low side of any change in roof height. Melt-and-refreeze adds the second mechanism: heat escaping through the roof melts snow that then refreezes at the cold eave, and the resulting ice can back water up under the covering, which sheds water flowing downhill but not water standing still.

    Why the storm date matters

    Property insurance works from a date of loss — a specific storm on a specific day over a specific area, not a general observation that a roof looks worn. That is why the county list and the effective and expiry times on each alert above are the useful part of this page: they are the National Weather Service’s own record that a given event covered a given county at a given time.

    It also matters because hail damage is frequently latent. A fractured shingle mat can take a long time to become a leak, so the gap between the storm and the discovery can be considerable — and by then, establishing which storm did it is a records question rather than an observation. An alert naming a county is not evidence that any particular building was damaged; it is evidence of what the weather was doing over that county, which is where an assessment starts rather than where it ends.

    Next steps in Michigan

    Roofing contractors in MichiganBrowse the Michigan directory by city and county.Michigan licensing rulesWhether roofers must be licensed here, which board issues it, and the bond and insurance rules.Storm damage roof repair guideHow hail and wind damage is identified, documented and repaired.National storm centerActive alerts across all 50 states and DC, busiest first.

    Source: the National Weather Service. Every alert on this page comes from the NWS public alerts feed at api.weather.gov, a free US Government service, and is reproduced as the issuing office wrote it. The office that issued each alert is named on the alert itself.

    This site does not edit, summarise or re-grade Weather Service text. Alerts are filtered into two separate lists — the event types that affect roofs, and the smoke, fire and airborne-particulate family — and each list is sorted. Nothing else is changed, and no alert is moved between the two lists to suit a heading.

    weather.gov