NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hartford, 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 Hartford, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 119 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 119
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
9 deaths in all
What the records show for Hartford
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Hartford; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 59 mph winds when its centre passed 45 miles away. Hartford is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. The highest rating among the 119 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 27, 1984, came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 4, 1981, killed 3 people. Of the 119, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 45 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 30. The most recent tornado was on July 16, 2025. Hartford has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 86% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 66 times since 1962, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Hartford has more hail reports within 10 miles than 61% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hartford
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Hartford: 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 Hartford
By decade
- 2020s17
- 2010s14
- 2000s14(1 EF3+)
- 1990s5
- 1980s29(3 EF3+)
- 1970s17(3 EF3+)
- 1960s19(1 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 1981 | F4 | 12 mi | 1.8 mi | 3 / 53 |
| Apr 27, 1984 | F4 | 18 mi | 6.5 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Aug 22, 1964 | F4 | 23 mi | 2.2 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Apr 21, 1974 | F3 | 20 mi | 58.6 mi | 2 / 18 |
| Jun 23, 2004 | F3 | 17 mi | 33.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 20 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1977 | F3 | in town | 69.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Apr 21, 1974 | F3 | 22 mi | 22.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | 18 mi | 14.5 mi | 3 / 28 |
| May 15, 2025 | EF2 | 16 mi | 8.28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 2025 | EF2 | 14 mi | 11.48 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 28, 2018 | EF2 | 22 mi | 3.91 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 119, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Hartford
The Storm Prediction Center has 66 hail reports within 10 miles of Hartford since 1962, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 43 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2 inches (hen egg size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 15, 2025. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. April has the most reports, 16.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Hartford
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hartford Wwtp, WI, 2 miles northwest of Hartford at 961 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 26°F and 9°F. June is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.3 inches; the year adds up to 34.1 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 159 nights a year. Snowfall averages 36.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 34.1 inches is more than at 71 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (43%). Slinger, 5 miles east, has its own station (Jackson, WI): 32.7 inches a year, 1.4 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26 | 9 | 1.5 | 5 | 10.0 |
| Feb | 30 | 11 | 1.3 | 4 | 9.1 |
| Mar | 41 | 22 | 1.8 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Apr | 54 | 33 | 3.4 | 7 | 1.4 |
| May | 67 | 44 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 77 | 54 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 58 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 56 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 48 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 37 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 44 | 26 | 2.1 | 5 | 1.1 |
| Dec | 31 | 15 | 1.7 | 5 | 10.1 |
| Year | 55 | 35 | 34.1 | 70 | 36.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hartford Wwtp, WI (961 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 Hartford
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 101 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hartford: 85 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 lightning strikes, 4 flash floods, 4 floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $22.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on May 31, 1998.
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Hartford — 1 killed, 2 injured, $8.7 million damage.
July 12, 2008: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Hartford — 1 injured, $100,000 damage.
June 8, 2008: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Hartford — $8.5 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 Hartford's ZIP code 53027 have filed 21 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $574,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 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, 55 have fewer than Hartford.
Washington County, which includes Hartford, has been named in 14 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1976, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Washington County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $48.4 million a year, the 13th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.0 million (41%), 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 Hartford
- Slinger, WI5 mi
- Hubertus, WI9 mi
- Richfield, WI9 mi
- Colgate, WI10 mi
- Iron Ridge, WI10 mi
- Jackson, WI10 mi
- Allenton, WI10 mi
- West Bend, WI12 mi
- Hartland, WI13 mi
- Theresa, WI13 mi
- Ixonia, WI14 mi
- Sussex, WI14 mi
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