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Storms That Hit

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Baraboo, WI

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Baraboo, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 88 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
88

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
5

10 deaths in all

What the records show for Baraboo

The strongest of the 88 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 7, 1984; its path came within 18 miles, and it killed 9 people. Of the 88, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 28 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 23. The most recent tornado was on July 16, 2025. Baraboo has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 61% of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 60 times since 1966, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Baraboo has more hail reports within 10 miles than 56% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.

Compare Baraboo's storm record with another city →

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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Baraboo

By decade

  • 2020s6
  • 2010s7
  • 2000s15
  • 1990s13
  • 1980s18(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s11
  • 1960s13(3 EF3+)
  • 1950s5(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Baraboo, Wisconsin
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 7, 1984F518 mi36 mi9 / 200
Sep 26, 1951F425 mi9 mi1 / 9
Aug 16, 1963F313 mi9.6 mi0 / 13
Aug 16, 1963F313 mi9.6 mi0 / 13
Aug 16, 1963F313 mi9.6 mi0 / 13
Jun 7, 2008EF225 mi8.63 mi0 / 6
Aug 18, 2005F29 mi14.5 mi0 / 0
Jul 4, 1994F210 mi8 mi0 / 0
Jun 8, 1993F224 mi28 mi0 / 0
Jun 26, 1989F219 mi0.3 mi0 / 0
May 8, 1988F218 mi7 mi0 / 1
May 8, 1988F224 mi20 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 88, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Baraboo

The Storm Prediction Center has 60 hail reports within 10 miles of Baraboo since 1966, made on 43 separate days. Of these, 33 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 6, 2011. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. April and July have the most reports, 14 each.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Baraboo since 2019 →

Weather by month in Baraboo

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Baraboo, WI, 2 miles southeast of Baraboo at 823 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 10°F. June is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.4 inches; the year adds up to 39.1 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 169 nights a year. Snowfall averages 42.7 inches a year, most of it in January. That 39.1 inches is more than at 154 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (93%). Wisconsin Dells, 11 miles north, has its own station (Wisconsin Dells, WI): 37.4 inches a year, 1.7 less than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Baraboo, WI
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan28101.4411.3
Feb32131.4410.1
Mar44232.255.9
Apr57344.272.6
May70464.390.0
Jun79565.680.0
Jul83604.860.0
Aug81584.560.0
Sep74503.970.0
Oct61382.960.4
Nov46282.242.1
Dec33171.7410.3
Year573639.17142.7

Averages for 1991–2020 at Baraboo, WI (823 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Wisconsin weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Baraboo

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 98 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Baraboo: 72 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 floods, 10 flash floods and 5 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $41.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on July 16, 2023. June has had the most flash floods, 5 of 10. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 269 have had fewer than Baraboo.

  • June 1, 2014: heavy rain event 4 miles from the centre of Baraboo — 1 killed, 2 injured.

    NWS: “A large oak tree uprooted and landed on a tent killing a 10 year old girl and injuring her father and brother. The tree fell approximately 1 hour after thunderstorms with heavy rains.”

  • May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Baraboo — 4 injured, $1.1 million damage.

  • June 9, 2008: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Baraboo — $37.4 million damage.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

Flood insurance policyholders in Baraboo's ZIP code 53913 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1985, and were paid $286,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 33% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Wisconsin cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 29 have fewer than Baraboo.

Sauk County, which includes Baraboo, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1976, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sauk County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $35.6 million a year, the 23rd highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.4 million (57%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Baraboo

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