NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Montello, 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 Montello, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 122 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 122
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
10 deaths in all
What the records show for Montello
The highest rating among the 122 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 3, 1956, came within 21 miles. Of the 122, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 45 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 40. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Montello has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 88% of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 44 times since 1963, with stones up to 4.25 inches. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities, 65% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Montello.
Compare Montello's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Montello
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s20
- 2000s21(2 EF3+)
- 1990s35(1 EF3+)
- 1980s17(1 EF3+)
- 1970s9
- 1960s6
- 1950s10(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1956 | F4 | 21 mi | 11.5 mi | 7 / 50 |
| Sep 26, 1951 | F4 | 22 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 9 |
| Jun 23, 2004 | F3 | 21 mi | 7.6 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Aug 29, 1992 | F3 | 20 mi | 28 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Jun 23, 2004 | F3 | 16 mi | 33.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 1984 | F3 | 18 mi | 29 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 25, 1950 | F3 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 10, 2011 | EF2 | 24 mi | 17.08 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 2008 | EF2 | 18 mi | 8.63 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jun 23, 2004 | F2 | in town | 11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 27, 1994 | F2 | 10 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 27, 1994 | F2 | 8 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 122, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Montello
The Storm Prediction Center has 44 hail reports within 10 miles of Montello since 1963, made on 35 separate days. Of these, 25 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.25 inches, fell on May 22, 2011. The most recent report is from June 17, 2024. June has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Montello
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Montello, WI, 1 mile southeast of Montello at 786 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 26°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.3 inches; the year adds up to 36.4 inches over 72 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 160 nights a year. Snowfall averages 42.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 36.4 inches is more than at 123 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (75%). Oxford, 13 miles west, has its own station (Wisconsin Dells, WI): 37.4 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26 | 8 | 1.4 | 4 | 10.9 |
| Feb | 31 | 11 | 1.3 | 4 | 10.0 |
| Mar | 43 | 22 | 1.9 | 5 | 5.9 |
| Apr | 56 | 34 | 3.7 | 7 | 2.4 |
| May | 69 | 46 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 56 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 60 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 58 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 49 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 38 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 44 | 26 | 2.1 | 5 | 1.7 |
| Dec | 32 | 15 | 1.7 | 5 | 10.8 |
| Year | 56 | 35 | 36.4 | 72 | 42.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Montello, WI (786 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 Montello
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 57 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Montello: 53 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 floods and 1 flash flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on May 28, 2012.
August 29, 2018: flood in Montello — $2.0 million damage.
NWS: “The Montello River flooded portions of Montello as it flowed out of Lake Montello. Major flooding occurred and the Main St.”
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Montello — $150,000 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 Montello's ZIP code 53949 have filed 22 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $318,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 14% 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, 58 have fewer than Montello.
Marquette County, which includes Montello, has been named in 9 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Marquette County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $13.5 million a year, the 55th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.9 million (36%), 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 Montello
- Princeton, WI11 mi
- Westfield, WI11 mi
- Neshkoro, WI13 mi
- Oxford, WI13 mi
- Markesan, WI16 mi
- Portage, WI18 mi
- Green Lake, WI19 mi
- Pardeeville, WI19 mi
- Wautoma, WI19 mi
- Cambria, WI19 mi
- Redgranite, WI22 mi
- Berlin, WI23 mi
All Wisconsin cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Montello with another place →