NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Blair, 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 Blair, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 54 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 54
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Blair
The strongest of the 54 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 10, 1953; its path came within 14 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 54, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 23 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 14. The most recent tornado was on April 28, 2025. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site, 77% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Blair. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 67 times since 1963, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Blair has more hail reports within 10 miles than 62% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Blair
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s7
- 2000s7
- 1990s4
- 1980s6
- 1970s6
- 1960s9(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 14 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| May 5, 1965 | F3 | 21 mi | 65.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 26, 1959 | F3 | 2 mi | 34.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 3, 1983 | F2 | 23 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 15, 1980 | F2 | 23 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 1971 | F2 | 17 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F2 | 11 mi | 47.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 27, 1968 | F2 | 5 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 10, 1966 | F2 | 15 mi | 7.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 23, 1964 | F2 | 12 mi | 21.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1964 | F2 | 18 mi | 9.7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 28, 1960 | F2 | 17 mi | 12.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 54, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Blair
The Storm Prediction Center has 67 hail reports within 10 miles of Blair since 1963, made on 46 separate days. Of these, 43 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 10, 1968. The most recent report is from May 18, 2024. June has the most reports, 23.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Blair
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Blair, WI, in Blair at 855 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 4°F. June is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 35.6 inches over 64 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 177 nights a year. Snowfall averages 41.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 35.6 inches is more than at 108 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (65%). Arcadia, 13 miles west, has its own station (Dodge, WI): 34.4 inches a year, 1.2 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 4 | 1.0 | 4 | 10.0 |
| Feb | 29 | 8 | 1.2 | 3 | 8.5 |
| Mar | 41 | 21 | 1.7 | 5 | 8.9 |
| Apr | 56 | 32 | 3.3 | 7 | 2.5 |
| May | 68 | 45 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 55 | 5.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 59 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 56 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 48 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 35 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 42 | 24 | 1.8 | 4 | 2.2 |
| Dec | 29 | 12 | 1.2 | 3 | 8.8 |
| Year | 55 | 33 | 35.6 | 64 | 41.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Blair, WI (855 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 Blair
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 82 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Blair: 51 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 heavy rain events, 8 flash floods, 5 floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 6 people and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $7.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 19, 1996. July has had the most flash floods, 4 of 8. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 239 have had fewer than Blair.
August 18, 2014: heavy rain event 7 miles from the centre of Blair — 3 killed, 2 injured, $25,000 damage.
August 7, 1996: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Blair — 1 killed, 4 injured, $80,000 damage.
July 18, 2019: heavy rain event 4 miles from the centre of Blair — 1 killed, 1 injured, $20,000 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 Blair's ZIP code 54616 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1992, and were paid $39,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. Of the 128 Wisconsin cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 14 have fewer than Blair.
Trempealeau County, which includes Blair, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Trempealeau County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $20.1 million a year, the 41st highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.7 million (58%), 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 Blair
- Whitehall, WI7 mi
- Ettrick, WI9 mi
- Arcadia, WI13 mi
- Melrose, WI13 mi
- Independence, WI14 mi
- Galesville, WI16 mi
- Osseo, WI18 mi
- Strum, WI19 mi
- Black River Falls, WI21 mi
- Trempealeau, WI21 mi
- Holmen, WI22 mi
- Eleva, WI24 mi
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