NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Galesville, 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 Galesville, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 60 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 60
- 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 Galesville
The strongest of the 60 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 10, 1953; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 60, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 34 have come since 2000. June and July have had the most tornadoes, 15 each. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site, 66% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Galesville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 110 times since 1968, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Galesville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 83% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Galesville's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Galesville
By decade
- 2020s15
- 2010s11
- 2000s8
- 1990s5
- 1980s6
- 1970s3
- 1960s8(1 EF3+)
- 1950s4(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 17 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| May 5, 1965 | F3 | 13 mi | 65.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 26, 1959 | F3 | in town | 34.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 22, 2011 | EF2 | 22 mi | 13.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 1971 | F2 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1968 | F2 | 15 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 4, 1964 | F2 | 20 mi | 9.7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 14, 1961 | F2 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1957 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 23 mi | 5.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 11 mi | 0.84 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 24 mi | 3.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 60, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Galesville
The Storm Prediction Center has 110 hail reports within 10 miles of Galesville since 1968, made on 54 separate days. Of these, 70 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on July 6, 2017. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. June has the most reports, 35.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Galesville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Trempealeau Dam 6, WI, 7 miles southwest of Galesville at 660 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 9°F. July is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 34.6 inches over 69 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 141 nights a year. Snowfall averages 36.2 inches a year, most of it in February. That 34.6 inches is more than at 84 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (51%). Ettrick, 8 miles northeast, has its own station (Blair, WI): 35.6 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 9 | 1.1 | 4 | 7.4 |
| Feb | 30 | 12 | 1.1 | 3 | 10.1 |
| Mar | 43 | 24 | 1.8 | 5 | 5.8 |
| Apr | 57 | 37 | 3.7 | 7 | 1.7 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 78 | 59 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 63 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 61 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 53 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 40 | 2.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 43 | 28 | 1.8 | 4 | 2.3 |
| Dec | 30 | 16 | 1.3 | 3 | 8.8 |
| Year | 56 | 37 | 34.6 | 69 | 36.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Trempealeau Dam 6, WI (660 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 Galesville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 146 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Galesville: 82 thunderstorm wind reports, 39 floods, 16 heavy rain events, 5 flash floods and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $8.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 87 mph, on June 27, 1998. June has had the most flash floods, 3 of 5. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 168 have had fewer than Galesville.
July 20, 2019: thunderstorm wind in Galesville — 2 injured, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “Two injuries occurred as severe storms with damaging winds rolled across the southern sections of Trempealeau County. In Galesville, one person was injured by flying glass.”
September 23, 2010: flood 7 miles from the centre of Galesville — $6.6 million damage.
June 7, 2008: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Galesville — $260,000 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
Trempealeau County, which includes Galesville, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Trempealeau County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $20.1 million a year, the 41st highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.7 million (58%), 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.