184
Recorded events
5
Direct deaths
22
Direct injuries
$38.8M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Ottawa County, Michigan: 184 recorded events between 1962 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 87. That places the county #1,175 nationally and #26 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Ottawa County, Michigan: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Ottawa County is the 2000s, when 50 of the county's 184 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Ottawa County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 54.1% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,175 for this hazard and #26 within Michigan, putting it in the 62.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Ottawa County with 49 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1998 | GRAND HAVEN | 0 | 1 | 20 | $34.6M |
| Jun 8, 2008 | SPRING LAKE | 61 | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 7, 2017 | GRAND HAVEN | 76 | 1 | 0 | $250K |
| Aug 9, 2009 | GRAND HAVEN | 55 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 8, 2008 | HARRISBURG | 60 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 27, 1990 | 52 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 10, 2026 | JAMESTOWN | 52 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | VRIESLAND | 65 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | PINE CREEK | 65 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | LAKE MACATAWA | 87 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | SPRING LAKE | 51 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | GRAND HAVEN ARPT | 59 | $0 |
| Mar 30, 2025 | FOREST GROVE | 63 | $0 |
| Jun 25, 2024 | OLIVE CENTER | 52 | $50K |
| Jun 25, 2024 | SPRING LAKE | 52 | $100K |
| Jun 18, 2024 | CONKLIN | 52 | $10K |
Other hazards here
More from Ottawa County
- Hail 108
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
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. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Ottawa county.
Radar data corroborated with ground truth reports indicates that a significant bow echo came onshore in Holland at 10:25 a.m. A storm chaser estimated that it produced wind gusts of up to 80 mph. Numerous reports of trees and power lines were received from in and near Holland and radar data indicates additional wind damage was likely east northeast to Zeeland and Jenison. The storm blew through Jenison at 10:45 a.m.
A swath of wind damage occurred from just west of Lamont, MI to near Alpine, MI. The strongest winds occurred along Johnson Street between 48th and 32 Avenues where a barn was damaged, five houses suffered loss of shingles (less than 5%), and numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. Large broken limbs and uprooted trees were observed as far west as Lenard Street and 76 Avenue. Similar damage occurred to the east-northeast through Marne, MI and then into Alpine Township in Kent County.||The wind damage was associated with the transition of an HP Supercell into a bowing thunderstorm line segment.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Ottawa County, Michigan?
184 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Ottawa County between 1962 and 2026, causing 5 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Ottawa County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Ottawa County measured 87.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Ottawa County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Ottawa County, Michigan.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/michigan/ottawa-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.