NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Salem, 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 Salem, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 93 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 93
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
32 deaths in all
What the records show for Salem
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Salem; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 8 miles away. Salem 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 93 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 28, 1972, came within 21 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 93, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 41 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on June 22, 2024. Salem has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 65% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 85 times since 1960, with stones up to 2.9 inches. Salem has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Salem's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Salem
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 8 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 Salem: 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 Salem
By decade
- 2020s14
- 2010s15
- 2000s12(2 EF3+)
- 1990s8
- 1980s9
- 1970s15(2 EF3+)
- 1960s13(4 EF3+)
- 1950s7
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 22 mi | 25.5 mi | 24 / 450 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 20 mi | 9.1 mi | 6 / 75 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 24 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 100 |
| Sep 28, 1972 | F4 | 21 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 2 mi | 10.78 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 25 mi | 13.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jun 5, 1977 | F3 | 24 mi | 69.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jul 19, 1963 | F3 | 6 mi | 10.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 13 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 2010 | EF2 | 20 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 2010 | EF2 | 24 mi | 5.22 mi | 0 / 15 |
| May 18, 1997 | F2 | 11 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 93, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Salem
The Storm Prediction Center has 85 hail reports within 10 miles of Salem since 1960, made on 58 separate days. Of these, 50 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.9 inches, fell on May 2, 2018. The most recent report is from May 7, 2024. May has the most reports, 22.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Salem
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Paddock Lake, WI, 2 miles east of Salem at 775 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 29°F and 13°F. May is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.7 inches; the year adds up to 37.7 inches over 74 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. That 37.7 inches is more than at 138 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (84%). Antioch, IL, 7 miles south, has its own station (Lake Villa 2NE, IL): 37.7 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | 13 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Feb | 33 | 16 | 2.2 | 5 |
| Mar | 44 | 25 | 2.4 | 6 |
| Apr | 56 | 35 | 4.3 | 8 |
| May | 68 | 46 | 4.4 | 8 |
| Jun | 78 | 56 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Jul | 83 | 61 | 3.5 | 6 |
| Aug | 80 | 59 | 3.6 | 7 |
| Sep | 74 | 51 | 3.6 | 6 |
| Oct | 61 | 40 | 3.1 | 6 |
| Nov | 46 | 29 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Dec | 35 | 20 | 2.0 | 6 |
| Year | 57 | 38 | 37.7 | 74 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Paddock Lake, WI (775 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 Salem
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 190 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Salem: 145 thunderstorm wind reports, 26 floods, 11 flash floods, 4 heavy rain events and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 13, and the NWS estimated $15.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 21, 1998. May has had the most flash floods, 4 of 11. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 293 have had fewer than Salem.
July 18, 1997: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Salem — 9 injured, $1.0 million damage.
July 21, 1998: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Salem — 1 injured, $250,000 damage.
July 18, 2010: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Salem — 1 injured, $25,000 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 Salem's ZIP code 53168 have filed 159 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2017, with 32. 10% 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, 120 have fewer than Salem.
Kenosha County, which includes Salem, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 4 floods, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kenosha County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $63.5 million a year, the 9th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $19.5 million (31%), 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.