NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fort Atkinson, 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 Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 128 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 128
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Fort Atkinson
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Fort Atkinson; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 26 miles away. Fort Atkinson is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. The strongest of the 128 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 27, 1984; its path came within 25 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F2 on April 11, 1965, killed 3 people. Of the 128, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 41. The most recent tornado was on June 22, 2024. Fort Atkinson has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 93% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 83 times since 1960, with stones up to 4.25 inches. Fort Atkinson has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Fort Atkinson
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 26 mi | 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 Fort Atkinson: 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 Fort Atkinson
By decade
- 2020s27
- 2010s15
- 2000s22(1 EF3+)
- 1990s12(1 EF3+)
- 1980s15(2 EF3+)
- 1970s17
- 1960s15(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 1984 | F4 | 25 mi | 6.5 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Aug 18, 2005 | F3 | 7 mi | 18.6 mi | 1 / 23 |
| Jun 17, 1992 | F3 | 22 mi | 16 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 15 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 13 mi | 24.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | 7 mi | 14.5 mi | 3 / 28 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F2 | 4 mi | 32 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jun 22, 2024 | EF2 | 20 mi | 6.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 8, 2024 | EF2 | 3 mi | 25.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 21, 2010 | EF2 | 18 mi | 5.22 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Jun 25, 1998 | F2 | 19 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 1988 | F2 | 9 mi | 27 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 128, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fort Atkinson
The Storm Prediction Center has 83 hail reports within 10 miles of Fort Atkinson since 1960, made on 55 separate days. Of these, 49 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.25 inches, fell on May 11, 2011. The most recent report is from April 18, 2025. May has the most reports, 17.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fort Atkinson
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fort Atkinson, WI, 2 miles south of Fort Atkinson at 800 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 11°F. June is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.4 inches; the year adds up to 35.5 inches over 68 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 146 nights a year. Snowfall averages 36.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 35.5 inches is more than at 106 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (64%). Jefferson, 6 miles northeast, has its own station (Jefferson Wwtp, WI): 38.7 inches a year, 3.2 more than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28 | 11 | 1.5 | 4 | 10.7 |
| Feb | 32 | 14 | 1.4 | 4 | 9.4 |
| Mar | 44 | 25 | 2.0 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Apr | 57 | 36 | 3.6 | 7 | 1.2 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 79 | 58 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 62 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 60 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 51 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 40 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 46 | 29 | 2.2 | 5 | 2.1 |
| Dec | 33 | 18 | 1.7 | 5 | 8.7 |
| Year | 57 | 37 | 35.5 | 68 | 36.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Fort Atkinson, WI (800 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 Fort Atkinson
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 168 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fort Atkinson: 126 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 floods, 7 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $6.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on June 23, 2004. June has had the most flash floods, 6 of 7. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 217 have had fewer than Fort Atkinson.
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Fort Atkinson — 8 injured, $2.9 million damage.
September 13, 2005: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Fort Atkinson — 1 injured.
June 8, 2008: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Fort Atkinson — $1.1 million 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 Fort Atkinson's ZIP code 53538 have filed 373 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $6.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Storm in 2008: 31 claims (8% of all) and $1.3 million. 9% 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, 125 have fewer than Fort Atkinson.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Storm2008 | 31 | $1.3 million |
Jefferson County, which includes Fort Atkinson, has been named in 14 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Jefferson County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $41.8 million a year, the 16th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $22.7 million (54%), 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 Fort Atkinson
- Jefferson, WI6 mi
- Whitewater, WI9 mi
- Cambridge, WI10 mi
- Johnson Creek, WI11 mi
- Lake Mills, WI11 mi
- Milton, WI11 mi
- Edgerton, WI13 mi
- Palmyra, WI13 mi
- Sullivan, WI14 mi
- Deerfield, WI15 mi
- Stoughton, WI19 mi
- Waterloo, WI19 mi
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