Tornadoes in Wisconsin
1,596 tornadoes since 1950, an average of 21.0 a year, 19th of the 53 states and territories in the record. They have killed 101 people and injured 1,682. 20 were rated F4 or EF4 and above, 3 of them F5 or EF5.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The deadliest in Wisconsin
- F5 Colfax tornado, WisconsinJune 4, 1958
- F5 Barneveld tornado, WisconsinJune 7, 1984
- F4, Green Lake, Waushara and Winnebago counties, WisconsinApril 3, 1956
- F4, Portage and Waupaca counties, WisconsinSeptember 26, 1951
- F4, Eau Claire, Clark and Marathon counties, WisconsinJune 4, 1958
- F2, Pierce, Saint Croix, Polk and Burnett counties, WisconsinMay 10, 1953
- F4, Washington County, WisconsinApril 4, 1981
- F2, Jefferson County, WisconsinApril 11, 1965
- F4, Chippewa County, WisconsinJune 4, 1958
- F3, Burnett and Washburn counties, WisconsinJune 18, 2001
- F3, Adams County, WisconsinAugust 27, 1994
- F3, Eau Claire County, WisconsinAugust 27, 1994
The strongest
- F5 Barneveld tornado, WisconsinJune 7, 1984
- F5 Colfax tornado, WisconsinJune 4, 1958
- F5 Oakfield tornado, WisconsinJuly 18, 1996
- F4, Eau Claire, Clark and Marathon counties, WisconsinJune 4, 1958
- F4, Marathon County, WisconsinAugust 31, 1977
- F4, Winnebago and Outagamie counties, WisconsinApril 27, 1984
- F4, Portage and Waupaca counties, WisconsinSeptember 26, 1951
- F4, Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties, WisconsinApril 21, 1974
- F4, Marinette County, WisconsinAugust 19, 1968
- F4, Juneau County, WisconsinApril 19, 1957
- F4, Chippewa County, WisconsinJuly 30, 1977
- F4, Oneida County, WisconsinJune 25, 1950
The longest paths
- F2, Pierce, Saint Croix, Polk and Burnett counties, WisconsinMay 10, 1953
- EF3, Barron, Polk, Rusk and Price counties, WisconsinMay 16, 2017
- F3, Marathon, Langlade, Oconto and Marinette counties, WisconsinSeptember 28, 1971
- F1, Green and Lafayette counties, WisconsinSeptember 2, 1963
- F2, La Crosse and Vernon counties, WisconsinJune 5, 1980
- F3, Fond du Lac, Dodge, Washington and Waukesha counties, WisconsinJune 5, 1977
- F3, Price and Oneida counties, WisconsinJune 8, 1985
- F2, Forest, Marinette and Menominee counties, Wisconsin and MichiganSeptember 16, 1972
- EF2, Monroe, Juneau, Wood and Portage counties, WisconsinMay 22, 2011
- F4, Eau Claire, Clark and Marathon counties, WisconsinJune 4, 1958
- F3, Dodge, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties, WisconsinApril 21, 1974
- F1, Barron and Chippewa counties, WisconsinAugust 15, 1962
The costliest
- F5 Oakfield tornado, WisconsinJuly 18, 1996
- F3, Dane and Jefferson counties, WisconsinAugust 18, 2005
- F3, Rusk County, WisconsinSeptember 2, 2002
- EF2, Rock County, WisconsinJune 22, 2024
- EF2, Waukesha County, WisconsinJune 21, 2010
- EF2, Grant County, WisconsinJune 16, 2014
- F3, Green Lake, Dodge and Fond du Lac counties, WisconsinJune 23, 2004
- EF3, Menominee, Langlade, Shawano and Oconto counties, WisconsinJune 7, 2007
- EF3, Dane County, WisconsinJune 16, 2014
- EF3, Walworth and Kenosha counties, WisconsinJanuary 7, 2008
- EF3, Marathon and Lincoln counties, WisconsinApril 10, 2011
- EF3, Barron, Polk, Rusk and Price counties, WisconsinMay 16, 2017
The biggest days in Wisconsin
Every year
Every year of the published record, and above it the 47 tornado tracks surveyed in Wisconsin so far in 2026. This year's figures are preliminary and are not in the totals above, which are SPC's published database.
| Year | Tornadoes | Deaths | Injuries | F4 and above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 preliminary | 47 | 68 | ||
| 2025 | 39 | 1 | ||
| 2024 | 42 | 1 | ||
| 2023 | 20 | |||
| 2022 | 28 | 2 | ||
| 2021 | 40 | 1 | ||
| 2020 | 18 | |||
| 2019 | 29 | 3 | ||
| 2018 | 32 | |||
| 2017 | 23 | 1 | 25 | |
| 2016 | 16 | |||
| 2015 | 17 | |||
| 2014 | 21 | 5 | ||
| 2013 | 15 | 2 | ||
| 2012 | 4 | |||
| 2011 | 39 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2010 | 46 | 22 | ||
| 2009 | 16 | |||
| 2008 | 38 | 21 | ||
| 2007 | 18 | 4 | ||
| 2006 | 13 | 1 | ||
| 2005 | 63 | 1 | 27 | |
| 2004 | 36 | 1 | 17 | |
| 2003 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 2002 | 26 | 30 | ||
| 2001 | 12 | 2 | 17 | |
| 2000 | 18 | 16 | ||
| 1999 | 11 | 3 | ||
| 1998 | 24 | 30 | ||
| 1997 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | 21 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| 1995 | 7 | 1 | ||
| 1994 | 36 | 4 | 55 | 1 |
| 1993 | 36 | |||
| 1992 | 26 | 1 | 61 | |
| 1991 | 10 | 1 | 6 | |
| 1990 | 9 | 3 | ||
| 1989 | 17 | 4 | ||
| 1988 | 35 | 4 | ||
| 1987 | 16 | 1 | ||
| 1986 | 14 | 13 | ||
| 1985 | 15 | 4 | 79 | |
| 1984 | 34 | 12 | 247 | 3 |
| 1983 | 31 | 10 | 1 | |
| 1982 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 1981 | 21 | 3 | 62 | 1 |
| 1980 | 43 | 3 | 53 | |
| 1979 | 30 | 1 | 13 | |
| 1978 | 12 | 2 | ||
| 1977 | 15 | 1 | 49 | 2 |
| 1976 | 12 | 2 | ||
| 1975 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 1974 | 15 | 2 | 54 | 1 |
| 1973 | 17 | 2 | ||
| 1972 | 23 | 3 | ||
| 1971 | 30 | 1 | 19 | |
| 1970 | 27 | 8 | ||
| 1969 | 27 | 163 | ||
| 1968 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 1 |
| 1967 | 30 | 2 | 17 | |
| 1966 | 22 | 18 | ||
| 1965 | 21 | 3 | 77 | |
| 1964 | 33 | 67 | 1 | |
| 1963 | 10 | 40 | ||
| 1962 | 9 | |||
| 1961 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 1960 | 11 | |||
| 1959 | 30 | 15 | ||
| 1958 | 16 | 28 | 134 | 3 |
| 1957 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 1956 | 6 | 9 | 52 | 1 |
| 1955 | 9 | 7 | ||
| 1954 | 12 | 4 | ||
| 1953 | 2 | 4 | 27 | |
| 1952 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 1951 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 2 |
| 1950 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
Every county in Wisconsin
A tornado is counted once for every county its path crossed, so these add up to more than 1,596. Each county has a page of its own: every tornado that crossed it, year by year.
Nearby
Warnings in force in WisconsinForecast for your townThe live radar over Wisconsin
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.