NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Burlington, 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 Burlington, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 113 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 113
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
26 deaths in all
What the records show for Burlington
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Burlington; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre crossed the city. Burlington is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. The highest rating among the 113 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 27, 1984, came within 22 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 113, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 54 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 30. The most recent tornado was on June 22, 2024. Burlington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 81% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 94 times since 1969, with stones up to 2.9 inches. Burlington has more hail reports within 10 miles than 77% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Burlington's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Burlington
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | overhead | 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 Burlington: 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 Burlington
By decade
- 2020s22
- 2010s20
- 2000s12(2 EF3+)
- 1990s11
- 1980s12(1 EF3+)
- 1970s14(1 EF3+)
- 1960s13(2 EF3+)
- 1950s9
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 23 mi | 25.5 mi | 24 / 450 |
| Apr 27, 1984 | F4 | 22 mi | 6.5 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 7 mi | 10.78 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 21 mi | 13.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jun 5, 1977 | F3 | 20 mi | 69.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jul 19, 1963 | F3 | 6 mi | 10.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 19 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 2010 | EF2 | 24 mi | 18.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jul 22, 2010 | EF2 | 15 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 2010 | EF2 | 15 mi | 5.22 mi | 0 / 15 |
| May 18, 1997 | F2 | 20 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 1986 | F2 | 24 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 113, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Burlington
The Storm Prediction Center has 94 hail reports within 10 miles of Burlington since 1969, made on 56 separate days. Of these, 58 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.9 inches, fell on May 2, 2018. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 25.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Burlington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Burlington, WI, 2 miles southeast of Burlington at 751 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 12°F. June is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 35.6 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 155 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.7 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%). Kansasville, 8 miles east, has its own station (Union Grove, WI): 35.2 inches a year, 0.4 less than here, and the same July average high, 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28 | 12 | 1.8 | 5 | 12.1 |
| Feb | 31 | 14 | 1.8 | 4 | 9.7 |
| Mar | 43 | 23 | 2.1 | 5 | 4.9 |
| Apr | 56 | 34 | 3.6 | 7 | 1.1 |
| May | 67 | 44 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 77 | 55 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 59 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 58 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 50 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 39 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 45 | 28 | 2.4 | 5 | 2.2 |
| Dec | 33 | 18 | 1.9 | 5 | 7.7 |
| Year | 56 | 36 | 35.6 | 71 | 37.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Burlington, WI (751 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 Burlington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 175 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Burlington: 135 thunderstorm wind reports, 25 floods, 11 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $41.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 20, 1998. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 293 have had fewer than Burlington.
July 18, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Burlington — 9 injured, $1.0 million damage.
July 20, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Burlington — 2 injured, $1.5 million damage.
July 21, 1998: thunderstorm wind in Burlington — 1 injured, $250,000 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 Burlington's ZIP code 53105 have filed 37 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $726,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2017, with 20. 3% 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, 80 have fewer than Burlington.
Racine County, which includes Burlington, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 4 floods, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Racine County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $63.8 million a year, the 8th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $30.4 million (48%), 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.