NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Shell Lake, 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 Shell Lake, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 44 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 44
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
8 deaths in all
What the records show for Shell Lake
The highest rating among the 44 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 18, 2001, came within 5 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on May 10, 1953, killed 4 people. Of the 44, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 16 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 14. The most recent tornado was on July 28, 2019. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site, 85% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Shell Lake. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 71 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Shell Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 64% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Shell Lake
By decade
- 2010s10
- 2000s6(1 EF3+)
- 1990s7
- 1980s5
- 1970s4
- 1960s9
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 2001 | F3 | 5 mi | 34 mi | 2 / 16 |
| Jun 23, 1952 | F3 | 20 mi | 18.2 mi | 2 / 6 |
| May 10, 1953 | F2 | 4 mi | 105.7 mi | 4 / 27 |
| Sep 11, 1990 | F2 | 18 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 1967 | F2 | 25 mi | 49.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 7, 1965 | F2 | 3 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1965 | F2 | 8 mi | 4.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1964 | F2 | 25 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 4, 1957 | F2 | 15 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jul 19, 2019 | EF1 | 24 mi | 13.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 28, 2017 | EF1 | 20 mi | 2.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2011 | EF1 | 20 mi | 1.98 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 44, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Shell Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 71 hail reports within 10 miles of Shell Lake since 1974, made on 45 separate days. Of these, 42 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 3 days, most recently May 10, 2011. The most recent report is from July 4, 2025. May has the most reports, 23.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Shell Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Spooner Ag Res Stn, WI, 8 miles northeast of Shell Lake at 1,100 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 21°F and 1°F. June is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 31.7 inches over 64 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 5 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 171 nights a year. Snowfall averages 55.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 31.7 inches is more than at 20 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (12%). Cumberland, 14 miles south, has its own station (Cumberland, WI): 33.8 inches a year, 2.1 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | 1 | 0.8 | 3 | 11.3 |
| Feb | 26 | 4 | 0.8 | 2 | 9.6 |
| Mar | 40 | 18 | 1.4 | 4 | 9.4 |
| Apr | 54 | 31 | 2.8 | 6 | 4.8 |
| May | 67 | 44 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Jun | 76 | 54 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 58 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 56 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 48 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 56 | 36 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.8 |
| Nov | 39 | 23 | 1.7 | 4 | 6.2 |
| Dec | 26 | 9 | 1.2 | 3 | 13.2 |
| Year | 53 | 32 | 31.7 | 64 | 55.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Spooner Ag Res Stn, WI (1,100 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 Shell Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 51 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Shell Lake: 41 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods, 1 flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $531,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on July 1, 2011. July has had the most flash floods, 5 of 8. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 239 have had fewer than Shell Lake.
July 1, 2011: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Shell Lake — 1 killed.
NWS: “An eleven year old girl was killed while trying to escape the approaching storm. Lightning struck a tree and the tree fell on the girl, killing her.”
July 4, 2025: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Shell Lake — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “A video was received County Highway B partially washed out leaving only a thin layer of pavement on one half of the road where it passed over a culvert. Other washouts and closures were reported nearby in multiple locations by the Shell Lake Fire Department.”
July 4, 2025: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Shell Lake — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Hector Dam Road was was completely washed out at one of the culverts for the Dahlstrom Branch of the Yellow River. Work did not start to replace the road until July 14 with work completed on the 17th.”
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 Shell Lake's ZIP code 54871 have filed 20 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2002, and were paid $837,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 2003: 17 claims (85% of all) and $778,000. 85% 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, 50 have fewer than Shell Lake.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding2003 | 17 | $778,000 |
Washburn County, which includes Shell Lake, has been named in 10 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Washburn County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Very Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $10.3 million a year, the 64th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.7 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 Shell Lake
- Spooner, WI7 mi
- Cumberland, WI14 mi
- Webster, WI17 mi
- Siren, WI19 mi
- Rice Lake, WI21 mi
- Frederic, WI21 mi
- Birchwood, WI22 mi
- Danbury, WI23 mi
- Turtle Lake, WI25 mi
- Barron, WI25 mi
- Luck, WI25 mi
- Minong, WI27 mi
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