NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sister Bay, 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 Sister Bay, Wisconsin since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 7 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 7
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Sister Bay
The strongest of the 7 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on August 23, 1998; its path came within 14 miles. Of the 7, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 2 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on August 9, 2025. Of the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site, 100% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sister Bay. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 20 times since 1986, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 416 Wisconsin cities, 96% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sister Bay.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sister Bay
By decade
- 2020s2
- 1990s1(1 EF3+)
- 1970s2
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 23, 1998 | F3 | 14 mi | 5.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Sep 16, 1972 | F2 | 22 mi | 66.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1956 | F2 | 24 mi | 10.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 15 mi | 2.28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1973 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2025 | EF0 | 4 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 25, 1966 | F0 | 4 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 7 of 7, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sister Bay
The Storm Prediction Center has 20 hail reports within 10 miles of Sister Bay since 1986, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 9 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on September 26, 1998. The most recent report is from July 16, 2023. May and July have the most reports, 6 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sister Bay
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ephraim 1NE-Wwtp, WI, 2 miles southwest of Sister Bay at 733 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 12°F. October is the wettest at 3.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 31.1 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 155 nights a year. Snowfall averages 61.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 31.1 inches is more than at 11 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (7%). Menominee, MI, 24 miles west, has its own station (Marinette, WI): 33.2 inches a year, 2.1 more than here, and the same July average high, 80°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Menominee, MI, 24 miles west, averaged 73°F in July and 35°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 12 | 1.7 | 5 | 16.8 | 35 |
| Feb | 29 | 13 | 1.1 | 4 | 14.1 | 35 |
| Mar | 39 | 21 | 1.7 | 5 | 7.9 | 36 |
| Apr | 51 | 31 | 2.7 | 7 | 6.4 | 43 |
| May | 65 | 42 | 3.5 | 7 | 0.0 | 57 |
| Jun | 74 | 53 | 3.3 | 7 | 0.0 | 68 |
| Jul | 80 | 58 | 3.1 | 7 | 0.0 | 73 |
| Aug | 78 | 57 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.0 | 72 |
| Sep | 70 | 51 | 3.4 | 7 | 0.0 | 68 |
| Oct | 57 | 41 | 3.6 | 8 | 0.1 | 59 |
| Nov | 44 | 30 | 2.3 | 6 | 2.5 | 46 |
| Dec | 33 | 19 | 1.7 | 5 | 13.8 | 36 |
| Year | 54 | 36 | 31.1 | 72 | 61.6 | 52 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ephraim 1NE-Wwtp, WI (733 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Menominee, MI, from NOAA Tides & Currents. 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 Sister Bay
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 24 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sister Bay: 22 thunderstorm wind reports, 1 flash flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $948,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on August 9, 2025.
September 7, 2001: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Sister Bay — 1 injured.
July 14, 2010: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Sister Bay — $434,000 damage.
NWS: “Lightning struck a home in Fish Creek around 2:30 pm CST. Every fire department in Door County, except Washington Island, helped fight the fire but the house and attached three-stall garage were a total loss.”
August 9, 2025: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Sister Bay — $431,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds downed and uprooted multiple trees in Ephraim. The time of this report is an estimate based on radar data.”
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
Door County, which includes Sister Bay, has been named in 6 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 2 of them major disasters (by incident: 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought, 1 flood, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 4, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Door County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for coastal flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $14.7 million a year, the 51st highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.9 million (47%), 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 Sister Bay
- Menominee, MI24 mi
- Marinette, WI27 mi
- Sturgeon Bay, WI27 mi
- Stephenson, MI30 mi
- Peshtigo, WI33 mi
- Escanaba, MI39 mi
- Wausaukee, WI39 mi
- Brussels, WI40 mi
- Bark River, MI42 mi
- Algoma, WI43 mi
- Oconto, WI43 mi
- Gladstone, MI46 mi
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