NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lake Mills, 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 Lake Mills, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 130 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 130
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Lake Mills
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Lake Mills; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 37 miles away. Lake Mills 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 130 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 5 times; the most recent, on August 18, 2005, came within 11 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on April 11, 1965, killed 3 people. Of the 130, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 40. The most recent tornado was on July 16, 2025. Lake Mills has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 93% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 107 times since 1960, with stones up to 4.25 inches. Lake Mills has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Lake Mills
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 37 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 Lake Mills: 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 Lake Mills
By decade
- 2020s23
- 2010s15
- 2000s26(1 EF3+)
- 1990s9(1 EF3+)
- 1980s20(1 EF3+)
- 1970s19(1 EF3+)
- 1960s13(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2005 | F3 | 11 mi | 18.6 mi | 1 / 23 |
| Jun 17, 1992 | F3 | 19 mi | 16 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 8 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 1975 | F3 | 17 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 23 mi | 24.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | 3 mi | 14.5 mi | 3 / 28 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F2 | 7 mi | 32 mi | 1 / 5 |
| May 15, 2025 | EF2 | 21 mi | 11.48 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 8, 2024 | EF2 | 11 mi | 25.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 8, 1988 | F2 | 2 mi | 27 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 1988 | F2 | 22 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 28, 1986 | F2 | 17 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 130, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lake Mills
The Storm Prediction Center has 107 hail reports within 10 miles of Lake Mills since 1960, made on 75 separate days. Of these, 64 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 4.25 inches, was reported on 2 days, most recently May 11, 2011. The most recent report is from April 18, 2025. May has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lake Mills
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lake Mills Wwtp, WI, in Lake Mills at 811 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 11°F. June is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.4 inches; the year adds up to 37.0 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 145 nights a year. Snowfall averages 42.3 inches a year, most of it in February. That 37.0 inches is more than at 127 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (77%). Johnson Creek, 7 miles east, has its own station (Jefferson Wwtp, WI): 38.7 inches a year, 1.7 more than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 11 | 1.4 | 4 | 10.7 |
| Feb | 31 | 14 | 1.5 | 4 | 11.4 |
| Mar | 43 | 25 | 2.0 | 5 | 4.9 |
| Apr | 57 | 36 | 3.6 | 7 | 2.1 |
| May | 70 | 48 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 80 | 58 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 62 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 61 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 52 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 40 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 45 | 29 | 2.1 | 5 | 2.0 |
| Dec | 32 | 18 | 1.7 | 4 | 10.9 |
| Year | 57 | 38 | 37.0 | 69 | 42.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lake Mills Wwtp, WI (811 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 Lake Mills
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 117 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lake Mills: 87 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 floods, 6 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $143.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on June 28, 2008. August has had the most flash floods, 5 of 6. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 197 have had fewer than Lake Mills.
July 7, 2008: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Lake Mills — 1 killed.
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Lake Mills — 8 injured, $2.9 million damage.
June 8, 2008: flash flood in Lake Mills — $137.2 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding across much of Jefferson County. Water depths on road surfaces reached 3 feet or more and there were gravel washouts.”
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
Jefferson County, which includes Lake Mills, 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 Lake Mills
- Johnson Creek, WI7 mi
- Waterloo, WI8 mi
- Jefferson, WI8 mi
- Cambridge, WI8 mi
- Deerfield, WI10 mi
- Marshall, WI10 mi
- Fort Atkinson, WI11 mi
- Watertown, WI12 mi
- Cottage Grove, WI15 mi
- Sullivan, WI16 mi
- Sun Prairie, WI18 mi
- Ixonia, WI18 mi
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