NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Beaver Dam, 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
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 148 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 148
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
7 deaths in all
What the records show for Beaver Dam
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Beaver Dam; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 60 miles away. Beaver Dam is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. The strongest of the 148 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on July 18, 1996; its path came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on April 11, 1965, killed 3 people. Of the 148, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 68 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 47. The most recent tornado was on July 16, 2025. Beaver Dam is tied for the most tornadoes within 25 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 88 times since 1965, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Beaver Dam has more hail reports within 10 miles than 75% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Beaver Dam
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Beaver Dam: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Beaver Dam
By decade
- 2020s15
- 2010s22
- 2000s31(2 EF3+)
- 1990s9(1 EF3+)
- 1980s35(3 EF3+)
- 1970s17(5 EF3+)
- 1960s12
- 1950s7(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 1996 | F5 | 20 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Sep 26, 1951 | F4 | 13 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 9 |
| Apr 21, 1974 | F4 | 20 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 35 |
| Apr 21, 1974 | F3 | 5 mi | 58.6 mi | 2 / 18 |
| Jun 23, 2004 | F3 | 14 mi | 7.6 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Jun 23, 2004 | F3 | 14 mi | 33.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 1984 | F3 | 16 mi | 29 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 23 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 7, 1980 | F3 | 7 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jun 5, 1977 | F3 | 16 mi | 69.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jun 4, 1975 | F3 | 23 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 21, 1974 | F3 | 8 mi | 22.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 148, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Beaver Dam
The Storm Prediction Center has 88 hail reports within 10 miles of Beaver Dam since 1965, made on 58 separate days. Of these, 52 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 3, 2004. The most recent report is from September 22, 2025. May has the most reports, 26.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Beaver Dam
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Beaver Dam Wwtp, WI, 1 mile south of Beaver Dam at 861 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 9°F. June is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.4 inches; the year adds up to 36.3 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 153 nights a year. Snowfall averages 43.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 36.3 inches is more than at 122 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (74%). Fox Lake, 8 miles north, has its own station (Town Of Westford, WI): 37.8 inches a year, 1.5 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 9 | 1.5 | 4 | 13.0 |
| Feb | 29 | 11 | 1.4 | 4 | 10.6 |
| Mar | 41 | 23 | 2.1 | 5 | 6.6 |
| Apr | 54 | 34 | 3.8 | 7 | 1.7 |
| May | 67 | 46 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 77 | 56 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 60 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 58 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 50 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 38 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 43 | 26 | 2.2 | 5 | 2.1 |
| Dec | 30 | 15 | 1.7 | 5 | 8.8 |
| Year | 54 | 35 | 36.3 | 71 | 43.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Beaver Dam Wwtp, WI (861 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Beaver Dam
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 111 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Beaver Dam: 102 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes, 2 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $5.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 128 mph, on May 31, 1998.
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Beaver Dam — 8 injured, $3.7 million damage.
July 30, 2011: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Beaver Dam — 5 injured.
NWS: “Wind gusts up to 40 mph (35 knots) accompanied a gust front through Southeast Wisconsin. The gusty winds snapped the tether holding a hot-air balloon causing it to roll along the ground.”
May 9, 2011: lightning strike in Beaver Dam — 2 injured, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “A house was damaged in the 500 block of west Burnett Street in Beaver Dam by lightning that struck a nearby tree and traveled through the ground into the house. The resulting fire caused $50,000 in damage to the structure.”
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
Dodge County, which includes Beaver Dam, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Dodge County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $34.1 million a year, the 24th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.5 million (42%), 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 Beaver Dam
- Fox Lake, WI8 mi
- Juneau, WI9 mi
- Randolph, WI10 mi
- Horicon, WI11 mi
- Fall River, WI11 mi
- Columbus, WI13 mi
- Waupun, WI13 mi
- Mayville, WI15 mi
- Iron Ridge, WI16 mi
- Cambria, WI17 mi
- Watertown, WI19 mi
- Brandon, WI19 mi
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