Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin

2021 tornadoes in Wisconsin

40 tornadoes touched down in Wisconsin in 2021, 90 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2020 2022 The whole country in 2021

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    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.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    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.

  7. 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.

Every tornado in Wisconsin in 2021

June 24 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 243:32 PM CDTEF0Rusk0.825$20,000
June 244:24 PM CDTEF0Chippewa0.225

July 28 10 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 288:40 PM CDTEF1Lincoln2.7300
July 289:18 PM CDTEF0Marathon0.2100
July 289:48 PM CDTEF1Saint Croix5.7100$175,000
July 2811:06 PM CDTEF0Waushara0.533
July 2812:10 AM CDTEF1Columbia2.3100$500,000
July 2812:41 AM CDTEF0Columbia0.450
July 2812:41 AM CDTEF0Dane4.850
July 2812:41 AM CDTEF1Dane2.8250
July 2812:47 AM CDTEF1Dane2.4125
July 2812:48 AM CDTEF0Dane3.575$10,000

July 29 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 291:05 AM CDTEF0Jefferson6.0100
July 291:07 AM CDTEF0Jefferson3.625
July 291:07 AM CDTEF1Jefferson7.7200
July 291:23 AM CDTEF1Jefferson4.7150
July 291:26 AM CDTEF1Waukesha1.075
July 291:32 AM CDTEF0Waukesha2.450
July 291:38 AM CDTEF1Waukesha0.995

August 7 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 74:29 PM CDTEF3Boscobel tornado9.41,100$430,000
August 75:09 PM CDTEF1Iowa7.750

August 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 83:52 PM CDTEF1Waushara3.5350

August 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 92:52 PM CDTEF0Rock3.225

August 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 105:58 PM CDTEF1Outagamie2.040

August 11 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 111:45 PM CDTEF1Monroe5.980$40,000
August 111:55 PM CDTEF1Monroe2.875$3,000
August 112:08 PM CDTEF0Shawano0.441
August 112:14 PM CDTEF0Brown2.375
August 116:08 PM CDTEF0Iowa0.125
August 116:12 PM CDTEF0Iowa1.025

September 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 205:56 PM CDTEF1Trempealeau8.51001$450,000

December 15 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 158:23 PM CSTEF0Trempealeau0.725$520,000
December 158:53 PM CSTEF1Trempealeau2.770$110,000
December 159:00 PM CSTEF0Eau Claire6.775
December 159:02 PM CSTEF0Chippewa5.375
December 159:05 PM CSTEF2Jackson3.1250$60,000
December 159:07 PM CSTEF2Clark2.8250$200,000
December 159:16 PM CSTEF2Clark1.150$200,000
December 159:16 PM CSTEF2Chippewa7.475$120,000
December 159:22 PM CSTEF1Clark0.950$160,000

Crossed into Wisconsin

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Wisconsin. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 158:17 PM CSTEF1Winona, MN to WI4.840$125,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in WisconsinThe 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.