NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cottage Grove, 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 Cottage Grove, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 136 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 136
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
16 deaths in all
What the records show for Cottage Grove
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Cottage Grove; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 56 mph winds when its centre passed 42 miles away. Cottage Grove is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. The strongest of the 136 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 7, 1984; its path came within 22 miles, and it killed 9 people. Of the 136, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 71 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 45. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Cottage Grove has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 96% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 175 times since 1958, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Cottage Grove has more hail reports within 10 miles than 93% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Cottage Grove's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Cottage Grove
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Cottage Grove: 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 Cottage Grove
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s19(1 EF3+)
- 2000s31(1 EF3+)
- 1990s11(1 EF3+)
- 1980s21(2 EF3+)
- 1970s13(1 EF3+)
- 1960s16(4 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 7, 1984 | F5 | 22 mi | 36 mi | 9 / 200 |
| Aug 2, 1967 | F3 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 2 / 5 |
| Aug 18, 2005 | F3 | 10 mi | 18.6 mi | 1 / 23 |
| Jun 16, 2014 | EF3 | 18 mi | 0.96 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 1992 | F3 | 5 mi | 16 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 22 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 1975 | F3 | 11 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 1963 | F3 | 23 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 13 |
| Aug 16, 1963 | F3 | 23 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 13 |
| Aug 16, 1963 | F3 | 23 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 13 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | 16 mi | 14.5 mi | 3 / 28 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F2 | 12 mi | 32 mi | 1 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 136, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cottage Grove
The Storm Prediction Center has 175 hail reports within 10 miles of Cottage Grove since 1958, made on 91 separate days. Of these, 120 were 1 inch across or larger, and 15 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on July 2, 1960. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 47.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cottage Grove
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Madison Dane Regional Airport, WI, 9 miles northwest of Cottage Grove at 866 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 12°F. June is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.5 inches; the year adds up to 37.2 inches over 70 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 147 nights a year. Snowfall averages 51.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.2 inches is more than at 129 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (78%). Deerfield, 5 miles east, has its own station (Lake Mills Wwtp, WI): 37.0 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 12 | 1.5 | 4 | 13.7 |
| Feb | 31 | 15 | 1.5 | 4 | 12.8 |
| Mar | 44 | 25 | 2.3 | 5 | 7.0 |
| Apr | 57 | 36 | 3.8 | 8 | 2.6 |
| May | 69 | 47 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 79 | 57 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 62 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 60 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 51 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 40 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 45 | 29 | 2.2 | 5 | 3.0 |
| Dec | 32 | 18 | 1.6 | 5 | 12.0 |
| Year | 56 | 38 | 37.2 | 70 | 51.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Madison Dane Regional Airport, WI (866 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 Cottage Grove
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 112 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cottage Grove: 89 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods, 7 heavy rain events, 5 lightning strikes and 3 floods. They killed 3 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on July 10, 2008. June 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 Cottage Grove.
August 22, 2007: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Cottage Grove — 3 killed, 2 injured, $10,000 damage.
August 23, 2018: flood 10 miles from the centre of Cottage Grove — $1.0 million damage.
March 5, 2022: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Cottage Grove — $200,000 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
Dane County, which includes Cottage Grove, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1976, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Dane County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $182.0 million a year, the 2nd highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $84.0 million (46%), 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.