Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Colfax, WI

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

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Colfax, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 65 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
65

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
8

29 deaths in all

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Colfax

By decade

  • 2020s6
  • 2010s11(2 EF3+)
  • 2000s2
  • 1990s8(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s16(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s11(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s5
  • 1950s6(3 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Colfax, Wisconsin
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 4, 1958F52 mi33.7 mi21 / 74
Jun 4, 1958F414 mi11.1 mi3 / 50
Jul 30, 1977F412 mi19 mi0 / 20
May 16, 2017EF319 mi82.53 mi1 / 25
Jul 15, 1980F316 mi1 mi1 / 10
Sep 24, 2019EF310 mi6.97 mi0 / 3
May 15, 1998F324 mi8 mi0 / 6
Sep 12, 1951F36 mi24.4 mi0 / 1
Jul 15, 1980F220 mi0.1 mi1 / 12
Jul 15, 1980F216 mi0.2 mi1 / 5
Jul 18, 1971F27 mi38.5 mi1 / 2
May 30, 1998F29 mi1 mi0 / 8

The strongest 12 of 65, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Colfax while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

Other cities in Wisconsin