Forest County, Wisconsin severe weather history spans 165 recorded events between 1958 and 2024. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 53.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,636 nationally and #67 in Wisconsin.
165
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$6.0M
Property damage
The record
What the Forest County, Wisconsin severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Forest County, Wisconsin severe weather history averages 2.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 64 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 12 events fall before 1990 and 153 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $5.6M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Forest County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 88 | 0 | $163K | 78 | 1983–2024 |
| Hail | 61 | 0 | $101K | 2.75 | 1958–2022 |
| Tornado | 7 | 0 | $5.6M | F2 | 1963–2020 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2005–2012 |
| Flash Flood | 3 | 0 | $154K | 0 | 1999–2002 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Forest County, Wisconsin severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
7 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 7 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-05-30 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 12.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-09-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 66.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-06-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-08-09 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-07-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Forest County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1994 | Tornado | Crandon to | 0 | 3 | $5.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Severe thunderstorms raked west-central and northern Wisconsin with violent damaging winds up to 61 mph, hail up to tennis ball-size, and two tornadoes. A tornado set down just east of Woodville in St Croix County damaging eight farm dwellings and structures along its one-mile path causing $55,000 damage. Another tornado cut a 12-mile path from just southwest of Crandon to just north of Laona in Forest County causing $1 million damage. It destroyed three mobile homes, damaged or destroyed 25 homes and leveled 600 acres of timber. Three people were injured in a mobile home that was destroyed by the tornado. Widespread hail up to tennis ball-size fell over the Rhinelander area damaging hundreds of vehicles as well as roofs and windows. A severe thunderstorm with damaging winds knocked down about 3,000 trees and damaged several homes and cabins seven miles southeast of Seeley, Sawyer County.
A tornado developed about 3.5 miles southeast of Argonne and moved northeast into Florence County. The storm uprooted and snapped hundreds of trees, some of which fell on vacation cabins along the storm's path. The hardest hit area was several miles east of Argonne shortly after the tornado developed. A large part of the roof of a house was removed (DI 2, DOD 6). The tornado continued northeast into Florence County at 7:46 pm CDT (1846 CST). The average width of the tornado was 250 yards.
Thunderstorms winds downed numerous trees and several miles of power lines blocking most of the roads in the southern Forest County town of Nashville. At least ten houses and two out buildings sustained at least minor damage from the fallen trees.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,369
Population (ACS)
$185K
Median home value
7
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Aug 27, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
| Jun 24, 2000 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Oct 3, 1977 | Severe Storm | WINDS, HAIL & RAIN | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Forest County, Wisconsin?
165 events are on record between 1958 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths and $6.0M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Forest County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 88 recorded events — 53.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Forest County?
7 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 7 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Forest County?
7 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Forest County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Forest County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Forest County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 47 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Forest County, Wisconsin severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Fond du Lac County 440
- Grant County 825
- Florence County 82
- Green County 412
- Green Lake County 223
- Eau Claire County 317
Cite this page
“Forest County, Wisconsin.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/wisconsin/forest-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.