Shawano County, Wisconsin severe weather history spans 287 recorded events between 1964 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 59.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,851 nationally and #50 in Wisconsin.
287
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$6.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Shawano County, Wisconsin severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Shawano County, Wisconsin severe weather history averages 4.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 86 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 42 events fall before 1990 and 245 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $6.0M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Shawano County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 172 | 0 | $801K | 83 | 1964–2025 |
| Hail | 68 | 0 | $0 | 2.5 | 1973–2026 |
| Tornado | 28 | 0 | $6.0M | F3 | 1964–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2013 |
| Lightning | 6 | 0 | $21K | 0 | 1996–2011 |
| Flash Flood | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2026 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2016 |
Decade by decade
Shawano County, Wisconsin severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
30 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 25 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-06-07 | EF3 | 0 | 3 | 40.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-04-27 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 32.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1969-06-26 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 15.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1974-04-12 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 10.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-12-01 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 31.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1968-08-16 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-06-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 9.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-06-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-06-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-06-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Shawano County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | BELLE PLAINE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Mar 29, 1998 | Lightning | SHAWANO | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | WITTENBERG | 0 | 1 | $300K |
| Apr 12, 1974 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An EF1 tornado formed and moved north-northeast on the west side of the city of Pulaski. The tornado ripped off a garage door and one side of the garage collapsed inward (DI 2, DOD 4). Another nearby garage door (on a different property) collapsed and one side was heavily damaged (DI 2, DOD 4). In addition, a barn's roof was collapsed (DI 1, DOD 5). Several dozen trees were uprooted in wet soil or heavily damaged (DI 27 and 28, DOD 2 and 3) in the path of the tornado.
Thunderstorm winds downed or snapped numerous trees and downed power lines throughout Wittenburg. The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School had about 75 feet of its rubber membrane roof and underlying foam insulation peeled from the west side of the gymnasium. Several large pine trees along the south side of the school were uprooted. A camper trailer was blown from its support pad and rolled about 40 feet before resting on its roof. Two of the three pools at the water treatment plant had portions of their plastic thermal covers blown off. Downed trees blocked State Highway 45 causing authorities to close the road for several hours. More than 140 homes were damaged, but damage to most of the homes was minor.
Thunderstorm winds downed trees at numerous locations across western Shawano County. The most concentrated damage was about 3 miles northwest of Bowler where estimated wind gusts of 85 to 95 mph from a microburst caused significant damage. A stand of pine trees 200 yards wide by 400 yards long was almost completely flattened with several trees snapped about 10 to 15 feet above the ground. A home and work shed were damaged by fallen trees and a truck was crushed. About a mile to the east a barn and outbuilding were flattened by the wind.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
41,039
Population (ACS)
$194K
Median home value
8
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 18, 2004 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 10, 2002 | Tornado | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Shawano County, Wisconsin?
287 events are on record between 1964 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $6.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Shawano County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 172 recorded events — 59.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Shawano County?
30 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 25 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Shawano County?
8 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Shawano County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Shawano County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Shawano County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 63 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Shawano 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
- Sawyer County 382
- Sheboygan County 276
- Sauk County 500
- Taylor County 293
- St. Croix County 428
- Trempealeau County 573
Cite this page
“Shawano County, Wisconsin.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/wisconsin/shawano-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.