169
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$2.2M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Vilas County, Wisconsin: 169 recorded events between 1958 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 83. That places the county #1,329 nationally and #35 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Vilas County, Wisconsin: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Vilas County is the 2000s, when 43 of the county's 169 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 Vilas County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 53.5% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,329 for this hazard and #35 within Wisconsin, putting it in the 57.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Vilas County with 63 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.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 1999 | COUNTYWIDE | 58 | 2 | 0 | $1.0M |
| Jul 15, 1988 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 2026 | CONOVER | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | PRESQUE ISLE | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | LAC DU FLAMBEAU | 52 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | ST GERMAIN | 52 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | BOULDER JCT ARPT | 52 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | PRESQUE ISLE | 52 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | MANITOWISH WATERS | 52 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | WINCHESTER | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 27, 2024 | CONOVER | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 27, 2024 | ST GERMAIN | 52 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Vilas County
- Hail 116
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A man was injured when struck by lightning while working on a house roof near Danbury (Burnett county). A severe thunderstorm downed numerous pine trees, some over 100 years old, in Lac du Flambeau (Vilas county). Three trees crushed a home and destroyed it.
A severe thunderstorm, within a line of storms, produced downburst winds southwest of Conover. Winds of 80 to 90 mph, with higher gusts, snapped or uprooted hundreds of trees, some as large as three feet in diameter, along a 5 mile long path. Several homes and cabins were damaged by the fallen trees. The storm moved over a camp where 650 people were located. The camp staff heard the warning and was able to get everyone to safety before the storm hit. There were no injuries from the storm.
Severe thunderstorms moved through Vilas County, producing dime- size hail at Lac du Flambeau, and the Arbor Vitae/Sayner area. Farther to the northeast, the powerful thunderstorm winds blew large trees down in the Phelps area.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Vilas County, Wisconsin?
169 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Vilas County between 1958 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Vilas County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Vilas County measured 83.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Vilas 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
“Thunderstorm Wind in Vilas County, Wisconsin.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/wisconsin/vilas-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.