NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Milton, 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 Milton, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 127 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 127
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Milton
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Milton; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 56 mph winds when its centre passed 18 miles away. Milton 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 127 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 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 127, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 73 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 36. The most recent tornado was on July 15, 2024. Milton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 92% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 108 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Milton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 83% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Milton's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Milton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Milton: 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 Milton
By decade
- 2020s30
- 2010s18
- 2000s25(1 EF3+)
- 1990s13(1 EF3+)
- 1980s9
- 1970s15
- 1960s13(1 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2005 | F3 | 11 mi | 18.6 mi | 1 / 23 |
| Jun 17, 1992 | F3 | 23 mi | 16 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 3 mi | 24.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | 18 mi | 14.5 mi | 3 / 28 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F2 | 11 mi | 32 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jun 22, 2024 | EF2 | 9 mi | 6.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 8, 2024 | EF2 | 7 mi | 25.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 21, 2010 | EF2 | 24 mi | 5.22 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Jun 25, 1998 | F2 | 9 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 1988 | F2 | 13 mi | 27 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 1986 | F2 | 13 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 15, 1981 | F2 | 7 mi | 28.7 mi | 0 / 3 |
The strongest 12 of 127, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Milton
The Storm Prediction Center has 108 hail reports within 10 miles of Milton since 1975, made on 63 separate days. Of these, 73 were 1 inch across or larger, and 11 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 18, 2025. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Milton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fort Atkinson, WI, 10 miles northeast of Milton at 800 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 11°F. June is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.4 inches; the year adds up to 35.5 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 146 nights a year. Snowfall averages 36.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 35.5 inches is more than at 106 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (64%). Edgerton, 7 miles northwest, has its own station (Stoughton, WI): 37.8 inches a year, 2.3 more than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28 | 11 | 1.5 | 4 | 10.7 |
| Feb | 32 | 14 | 1.4 | 4 | 9.4 |
| Mar | 44 | 25 | 2.0 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Apr | 57 | 36 | 3.6 | 7 | 1.2 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 79 | 58 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 62 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 60 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 51 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 40 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 46 | 29 | 2.2 | 5 | 2.1 |
| Dec | 33 | 18 | 1.7 | 5 | 8.7 |
| Year | 57 | 37 | 35.5 | 68 | 36.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Fort Atkinson, WI (800 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 Milton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 186 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Milton: 145 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 floods, 13 flash floods, 7 heavy rain events and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $32.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on June 23, 2004. June has had the most flash floods, 6 of 13. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 322 have had fewer than Milton.
June 30, 2014: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Milton — 1 killed.
April 17, 2026: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Milton — $30.0 million damage.
July 3, 2007: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Milton — $275,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Milton's ZIP code 53563 have filed 47 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2008, with 24. 9% 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, 92 have fewer than Milton.
Rock County, which includes Milton, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 3 floods, 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 Rock County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $73.3 million a year, the 7th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $37.9 million (52%), 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.