NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sullivan, 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 Sullivan, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 121 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 121
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Sullivan
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Sullivan; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 28 miles away. Sullivan is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. The strongest of the 121 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 27, 1984; its path came within 12 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F2 on April 11, 1965, killed 3 people. Of the 121, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 56 have come since 2000. June and July have had the most tornadoes, 31 each. The most recent tornado was on July 16, 2025. Sullivan has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 88% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 99 times since 1969, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Sullivan has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Sullivan's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Sullivan
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 28 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 Sullivan: 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 Sullivan
By decade
- 2020s23
- 2010s15
- 2000s18(1 EF3+)
- 1990s7
- 1980s20(2 EF3+)
- 1970s17(1 EF3+)
- 1960s15(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 1984 | F4 | 12 mi | 6.5 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Aug 18, 2005 | F3 | 20 mi | 18.6 mi | 1 / 23 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 4 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1977 | F3 | 19 mi | 69.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 25 mi | 24.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | 12 mi | 14.5 mi | 3 / 28 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F2 | 10 mi | 32 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Feb 8, 2024 | EF2 | 17 mi | 25.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 22, 2010 | EF2 | 23 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 2010 | EF2 | 11 mi | 5.22 mi | 0 / 15 |
| May 8, 1988 | F2 | 16 mi | 27 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 1986 | F2 | 7 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 121, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sullivan
The Storm Prediction Center has 99 hail reports within 10 miles of Sullivan since 1969, made on 56 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 11, 2011. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. June has the most reports, 27.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sullivan
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sullivan 3SE, WI, 4 miles southeast of Sullivan at 933 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 11°F. June is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.7 inches; the year adds up to 37.8 inches over 73 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 148 nights a year. Snowfall averages 50.7 inches a year, most of it in December. That 37.8 inches is more than at 143 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (87%). Oconomowoc, 8 miles northeast, has its own station (Oconomowoc Wwtp, WI): 36.9 inches a year, 0.9 less than here, and the same July average high, 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 11 | 1.7 | 5 | 13.2 |
| Feb | 31 | 14 | 1.8 | 5 | 11.7 |
| Mar | 43 | 24 | 2.1 | 5 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 56 | 35 | 3.9 | 8 | 2.4 |
| May | 69 | 46 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 56 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 60 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 59 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 51 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 40 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 45 | 28 | 2.4 | 5 | 3.2 |
| Dec | 33 | 17 | 2.1 | 6 | 13.5 |
| Year | 56 | 37 | 37.8 | 73 | 50.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sullivan 3SE, WI (933 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 Sullivan
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 134 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sullivan: 123 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 lightning strikes, 3 heavy rain events, 2 floods and 1 flash flood. They killed 0 people and injured 10, and the NWS estimated $5.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 110 mph, on June 21, 2011.
May 31, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Sullivan — 8 injured, $2.9 million damage.
June 21, 2011: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Sullivan — 1 injured, $276,000 damage.
July 11, 2011: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Sullivan — 1 injured.
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
Jefferson County, which includes Sullivan, has been named in 14 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 30, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Jefferson County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $41.8 million a year, the 16th highest of 72 Wisconsin counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $22.7 million (54%), 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.