NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Marathon, 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 October 26, 2026

1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Marathon, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Cristobal in 2020. Since 1950, 67 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 1
Tornadoes: 67
EF3 or stronger: 5

What the records show for Marathon

None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Marathon; the strongest was Cristobal in 2020, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 22 miles away. Marathon 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 67 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on August 31, 1977, came within 5 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on June 4, 1958, killed 4 people. Of the 67, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 31 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities, 57% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Marathon. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 30 times since 1991, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 416 Wisconsin cities, 84% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Marathon.

Compare Marathon's storm record with another city →

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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Marathon

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Marathon, Wisconsin, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
2020	CristobalJun 10	22 mi	Tropical storm (40 mph)	Tropical storm

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Marathon: 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 Marathon

By decade

2020s8
2010s6(1 EF3+)
2000s17
1990s11
1980s6
1970s6(3 EF3+)
1960s8
1950s5(1 EF3+)

Strongest tornadoes near Marathon, Wisconsin
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
Jun 4, 1958	F4	12 mi	59.2 mi	4 / 3
Aug 31, 1977	F4	5 mi	31.8 mi	0 / 10
Apr 10, 2011	EF3	12 mi	21.15 mi	0 / 2
Sep 28, 1971	F3	14 mi	78.4 mi	0 / 0
Sep 28, 1971	F3	13 mi	49.6 mi	0 / 5
Jun 25, 1950	F2	22 mi	7.8 mi	1 / 0
May 15, 2025	EF2	23 mi	4.63 mi	0 / 0
Jun 7, 2007	EF2	21 mi	7.3 mi	0 / 0
Jul 16, 1997	F2	22 mi	3.4 mi	0 / 0
Aug 7, 1996	F2	10 mi	2.5 mi	0 / 0
May 8, 1988	F2	3 mi	13 mi	0 / 2
Aug 12, 1985	F2	23 mi	10 mi	0 / 14

The strongest 12 of 67, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Marathon

The Storm Prediction Center has 30 hail reports within 10 miles of Marathon since 1991, made on 27 separate days. Of these, 19 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on July 13, 2024. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. June has the most reports, 9.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Marathon

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Wausau Dwtn Airport, WI, 10 miles east of Marathon at 1,181 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 7°F. June is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 34.0 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 5 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 163 nights a year. Snowfall averages 64.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 34.0 inches is more than at 64 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (39%). Athens, 11 miles northwest, has its own station (Medford, WI): 34.2 inches a year, 0.2 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 80°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Wausau Dwtn Airport, WI
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"	Snow in
Jan	23	7	1.2	4	14.8
Feb	27	10	1.1	3	12.7
Mar	40	21	1.8	5	8.3
Apr	54	32	3.1	7	6.5
May	67	45	3.8	8	0.2
Jun	76	55	4.7	8	0.0
Jul	80	59	3.9	7	0.0
Aug	78	57	4.1	7	0.0
Sep	70	49	3.8	7	0.0
Oct	56	37	3.1	6	0.9
Nov	40	25	1.9	5	6.5
Dec	28	14	1.5	4	14.4
Year	53	34	34.0	71	64.3

Averages for 1991–2020 at Wausau Dwtn Airport, WI (1,181 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.

Wisconsin weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Marathon

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 48 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Marathon: 40 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 flash floods, 2 heavy rain events, 2 lightning strikes and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $1.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on July 20, 2010.

July 14, 2010: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Marathon — 1 injured.
June 26, 2013: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Marathon — 1 injured.
NWS: “An 8 year-old boy was struck by lightning while riding a mini-bike at his uncle's farm in the Town of Rib Falls. No rain was falling at the time the boy was struck.”
August 7, 1996: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Marathon — $840,000 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

Marathon County, which includes Marathon, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Marathon County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $74.9 million a year, the 6th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $35.6 million (48%), 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 Marathon

All Wisconsin cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Marathon with another place →

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