NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fountain City, 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 Fountain City, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 62 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 62
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Fountain City
The strongest of the 62 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 10, 1953; its path came within 3 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 62, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 36 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Fountain City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 117 times since 1964, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Fountain City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 85% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Fountain City
By decade
- 2020s20
- 2010s12
- 2000s4
- 1990s6
- 1980s8
- 1970s2
- 1960s7(1 EF3+)
- 1950s3(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 3 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| May 5, 1965 | F3 | 25 mi | 65.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 26, 1959 | F3 | 16 mi | 34.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 8, 1999 | F2 | 14 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 13 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F2 | 14 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1968 | F2 | 20 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 16 mi | 0.84 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 13 mi | 2.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 10 mi | 3.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 4 mi | 19.74 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF1 | 9 mi | 4.85 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 62, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fountain City
The Storm Prediction Center has 117 hail reports within 10 miles of Fountain City since 1964, made on 59 separate days. Of these, 65 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 17, 2021. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. June has the most reports, 33.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fountain City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Winona Dam 5 A, MN, 3 miles south of Fountain City at 663 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 34.5 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 148 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 34.5 inches is more than at 83 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (50%). Cochrane, 11 miles northwest, has its own station (Minnesota City Dam 5, MN): 35.4 inches a year, 0.9 more than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 8 | 1.1 | 4 | 9.8 |
| Feb | 30 | 11 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.3 |
| Mar | 42 | 24 | 1.9 | 5 | 5.7 |
| Apr | 56 | 37 | 3.7 | 7 | 1.6 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.1 | 9 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 78 | 59 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 63 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 61 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 54 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 41 | 2.5 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 44 | 29 | 1.9 | 4 | 1.4 |
| Dec | 31 | 16 | 1.2 | 4 | 9.5 |
| Year | 56 | 38 | 34.5 | 68 | 37.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Winona Dam 5 A, MN (663 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 Fountain City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 201 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fountain City: 91 thunderstorm wind reports, 68 floods, 21 heavy rain events, 14 flash floods and 7 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $42.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 27, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 6 of 14. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 334 have had fewer than Fountain City.
May 3, 2015: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Fountain City — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Fountain City — $22.2 million damage.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Fountain City — $12.4 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 Fountain City's ZIP code 54629 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $91,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Severe flooding in 2001: 10 claims (67% of all) and $69,000. 67% 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, 29 have fewer than Fountain City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Severe flooding2001 | 10 | $69,000 |
Buffalo County, which includes Fountain City, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 5 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 Buffalo County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.0 million a year, the 69th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.4 million (49%), 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 Fountain City
- Winona, MN7 mi
- Cochrane, WI11 mi
- Arcadia, WI13 mi
- Trempealeau, WI13 mi
- Lewiston, MN15 mi
- Galesville, WI16 mi
- Independence, WI20 mi
- Ettrick, WI21 mi
- Saint Charles, MN22 mi
- Rushford, MN23 mi
- Holmen, WI24 mi
- Plainview, MN25 mi
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