NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Eau Claire, 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 Eau Claire, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 74 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 74
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
35 deaths in all
What the records show for Eau Claire
The strongest of the 74 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 4, 1958; its path came within 19 miles, and it killed 21 people. Of the 74, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 22 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 22. The most recent tornado was on April 28, 2025. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site, 51% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Eau Claire. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 123 times since 1956, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Eau Claire has more hail reports within 10 miles than 87% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Eau Claire's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Eau Claire
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s8(1 EF3+)
- 2000s2
- 1990s9(2 EF3+)
- 1980s16(1 EF3+)
- 1970s14(2 EF3+)
- 1960s4
- 1950s9(6 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 1958 | F5 | 19 mi | 33.7 mi | 21 / 74 |
| Jun 4, 1958 | F4 | 11 mi | 59.2 mi | 4 / 3 |
| Jun 4, 1958 | F4 | 9 mi | 11.1 mi | 3 / 50 |
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 16 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| Jul 30, 1977 | F4 | 20 mi | 19 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Aug 27, 1994 | F3 | 9 mi | 10 mi | 2 / 25 |
| Jul 15, 1980 | F3 | 2 mi | 1 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Sep 24, 2019 | EF3 | 8 mi | 6.97 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 15, 1998 | F3 | 19 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Sep 28, 1971 | F3 | 24 mi | 49.6 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jun 4, 1958 | F3 | 19 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 12, 1951 | F3 | 15 mi | 24.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 74, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Eau Claire
The Storm Prediction Center has 123 hail reports within 10 miles of Eau Claire since 1956, made on 67 separate days. Of these, 64 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on May 15, 2025, the most recent report. May has the most reports, 32.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Eau Claire
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Eau Claire 3SW, WI, 2 miles southwest of Eau Claire at 880 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 32.7 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 148 nights a year. Snowfall averages 54.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 32.7 inches is more than at 36 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (22%). Chippewa Falls, 10 miles northeast, has its own station (Eau Claire Regional Airport, WI): 33.1 inches a year, 0.4 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 8 | 1.1 | 3 | 10.0 |
| Feb | 29 | 12 | 1.1 | 4 | 13.5 |
| Mar | 42 | 24 | 1.9 | 5 | 8.3 |
| Apr | 56 | 36 | 3.3 | 7 | 4.5 |
| May | 69 | 49 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.5 |
| Jun | 78 | 58 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 62 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 61 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 52 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 40 | 2.5 | 6 | 0.8 |
| Nov | 42 | 27 | 1.8 | 4 | 3.3 |
| Dec | 30 | 15 | 1.4 | 5 | 13.1 |
| Year | 55 | 37 | 32.7 | 67 | 54.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Eau Claire 3SW, WI (880 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 Eau Claire
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 102 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Eau Claire: 86 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events, 1 flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $4.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on April 17, 2002. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 293 have had fewer than Eau Claire.
April 17, 2002: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Eau Claire — 1 injured, $300,000 damage.
NWS: “Narrow swath of wind damage. Roofs blown off 4 barns.”
June 10, 2016: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Eau Claire — 1 injured, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Multiple trees were blown down across the city of Eau Claire. it affected the Blue Ox Festival where trees fell on cars and camper trailers.”
July 20, 2019: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Eau Claire — 1 injured.
NWS: “A large tree was uprooted and landed on a camper. An individual inside the camper was injured.”
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 Eau Claire's 2 ZIP codes have filed 60 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $389,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1993, with 18. 5% 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, 105 have fewer than Eau Claire.
Eau Claire County, which includes Eau Claire, has been named in 9 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Eau Claire County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $47.9 million a year, the 14th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $23.9 million (50%), 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 Eau Claire
- Altoona, WI3 mi
- Chippewa Falls, WI10 mi
- Fall Creek, WI10 mi
- Elk Mound, WI11 mi
- Eleva, WI15 mi
- Mondovi, WI18 mi
- Colfax, WI18 mi
- Strum, WI19 mi
- Augusta, WI19 mi
- Cadott, WI20 mi
- Bloomer, WI20 mi
- Menomonie, WI22 mi
All Wisconsin cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Eau Claire with another place →