NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Watertown, 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 Watertown, Wisconsin since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 132 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 132
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
8 deaths in all
What the records show for Watertown
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Watertown; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 41 miles away. Watertown is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 416 Wisconsin cities on this site. The strongest of the 132 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 27, 1984; its path came within 23 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F2 on April 11, 1965, killed 3 people. Of the 132, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 60 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 35. The most recent tornado was on July 16, 2025. Watertown has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 95% of the 416 Wisconsin cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 66 times since 1956, with stones up to 3.75 inches. Watertown has more hail reports within 10 miles than 61% of the 416 Wisconsin cities.
Compare Watertown's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Watertown
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 41 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 Watertown: 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 Watertown
By decade
- 2020s25
- 2010s12
- 2000s23(1 EF3+)
- 1990s6
- 1980s30(3 EF3+)
- 1970s20(4 EF3+)
- 1960s13
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 1984 | F4 | 23 mi | 6.5 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Apr 21, 1974 | F3 | 21 mi | 58.6 mi | 2 / 18 |
| Aug 18, 2005 | F3 | 22 mi | 18.6 mi | 1 / 23 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 5 mi | 10.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 7, 1980 | F3 | 23 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jun 5, 1977 | F3 | 19 mi | 69.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jun 4, 1975 | F3 | 23 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 21, 1974 | F3 | 25 mi | 22.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F2 | in town | 14.5 mi | 3 / 28 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F2 | 14 mi | 32 mi | 1 / 5 |
| May 15, 2025 | EF2 | 21 mi | 8.28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 2025 | EF2 | 13 mi | 11.48 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 132, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Watertown
The Storm Prediction Center has 66 hail reports within 10 miles of Watertown since 1956, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 37 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.75 inches, fell on May 14, 2001. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 21.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Watertown
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Watertown Wwtp, WI, 2 miles southwest of Watertown at 825 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 26°F and 11°F. June is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.4 inches; the year adds up to 37.4 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 149 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.4 inches is more than at 132 of the 165 Wisconsin stations used on this site (80%). Ixonia, 7 miles east, has its own station (Oconomowoc Wwtp, WI): 36.9 inches a year, 0.5 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26 | 11 | 1.4 | 4 | 11.0 |
| Feb | 30 | 13 | 1.4 | 4 | 9.7 |
| Mar | 42 | 24 | 1.9 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Apr | 56 | 35 | 3.7 | 7 | 1.6 |
| May | 68 | 47 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 78 | 57 | 5.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 61 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 59 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 51 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 40 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 45 | 28 | 2.1 | 5 | 1.4 |
| Dec | 32 | 17 | 1.8 | 4 | 8.5 |
| Year | 56 | 37 | 37.4 | 69 | 37.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Watertown Wwtp, WI (825 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 Watertown
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 77 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Watertown: 57 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 floods, 7 flash floods, 2 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $24.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on June 28, 2008. June has had the most flash floods, 4 of 7. Of the 374 Wisconsin cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 217 have had fewer than Watertown.
July 7, 2008: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Watertown — 1 killed.
NWS: “Lightning struck and killed a boy watching the storms outside. He lived on Ebenezer Road in the Civil Town of Watertown.”
July 7, 2008: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Watertown — 1 injured, $30,000 damage.
NWS: “LIghting struck and injured a 16-year boy. He was transfered to a hospital for medical treatment.”
June 24, 1997: thunderstorm wind in Watertown — 1 injured, $10,000 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 Watertown's 2 ZIP codes have filed 51 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Storm in 2008: 18 claims (35% of all) and $537,000. 39% 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, 97 have fewer than Watertown.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Storm2008 | 18 | $537,000 |
Jefferson County, which includes Watertown, 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.