41
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
41
Direct injuries
$19.4M
Property damage
Tornado in Barron County, Wisconsin: 41 recorded events between 1957 and 2020. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #598 nationally and #9 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Barron County, Wisconsin: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Barron County is the 1990s, when 10 of the county's 41 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 Barron County archive, tornado makes up 9.7% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #598 for this hazard and #9 within Wisconsin, putting it in the 79.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for tornado in Barron County with 14 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.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-05-16 | EF3 | 82.5 mi | 1,320 yd | Crossed in |
| 1977-07-30 | EF3 | 9.1 mi | 200 yd | Crossed in |
| 1953-05-10 | EF2 | 105.7 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 1994-04-26 | EF2 | 4.0 mi | 1,200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1990-09-11 | EF2 | 1.5 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1990-09-11 | EF2 | 3.0 mi | 2,500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1986-09-03 | EF2 | 4.0 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1967-07-22 | EF2 | 49.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-05 | EF2 | 4.5 mi | 167 yd | Touched down here |
| 1964-06-18 | EF2 | 4.1 mi | 13 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 2017 | REEVE | EF2 | 1 | 25 | $10.1M |
| Jul 23, 1967 | F2 | 0 | 6 | $250K | |
| Jul 15, 1969 | F1 | 0 | 4 | $25K | |
| Jul 4, 1957 | F2 | 0 | 4 | $250K | |
| Jun 18, 1964 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 2020 | ARLAND | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 28, 2019 | HILLSDALE | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 19, 2019 | TURTLE LAKE | EF1 | $0 |
| May 16, 2017 | REEVE | EF2 | $10.1M |
| Jul 27, 2016 | CHETEK | EF0 | $50K |
| May 22, 2011 | MIKANA | EF1 | $200K |
| Aug 8, 2010 | BARRONETT | EF1 | $250K |
| Jul 28, 2010 | LAKE CHETEK | EF1 | $75K |
| Jul 28, 2010 | TURTLE LAKE | EF1 | $120K |
| Jun 11, 2005 | ALMENA | F1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Barron County
- Thunderstorm Wind 178
- Hail 172
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The tornado first developed over southeastern Polk County, then tracked mostly east-northeast across southern Barron before moving into Rusk County and eventually Price County. In Barron County, the tornado hit numerous farmsteads, devastating barns and other outbuildings. The hardest hit area in Barron County was just north of Chetek, WI, where high-end EF2 damage was found. A number of mobile homes were completely demolished, and this is where the one fatality occurred. After that, several turkey barns were leveled, and then multiple homes were hit hard near Prairie Lake, especially those on the eastern shore.
A National Weather Service Storm Damage Survey determined that an EF-1 tornado touched down approximately 4.5 miles north-northeast of Cumberland, and tracked east-southeast to approximately six miles northeast of Cumberland, Wisconsin. Structural damage was confined to a barn and garage destroyed. Hundreds of trees were either uprooted and blown down, and several of the large trees were in excess of four feet in diameter.
An EF-1 tornado touched down just west of the intersection of 28th Avenue and 26th Street. It tracked northeast and dissipated at 30th Avenue. Damage was sporadic along this tornado path, with damages to roofs, a 12 foot house antenna, two seven foot tall horse enclosures, and numerous large trees uprooted and blown down.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Barron County, Wisconsin?
41 tornado events are recorded in Barron County between 1957 and 2020, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Barron County?
The strongest tornado on record in Barron County measured F3.
Where does the tornado data for Barron 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
“Tornado in Barron County, Wisconsin.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/wisconsin/barron-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.