Natural Hazards Climate in Wisconsin

For general information on various types of severe weather across Wisconsin and the Midwest, consult

Changnon, S.A. and K.E. Kunkel, 2006: Severe Storms in the Midwest, Illinois State Water Survey Informational/Educational Material 2006-06, 74p. https://www.isws.illinois.edu/pubdoc/IEM/ISWSIEM2006-06.pdf

Severe Local Thunderstorms --Wisconsin Climatology

• Severe weather events and casualties from the Milwaukee/Sullivan NWS Forecast Office between 1982-2016:
  

  Tornadoes	Thunderstorm Winds
  Lightning	Hail
  All Severe Weather Events

• Tornado Maps from NWS Milwaukee Field Office for:
  2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017
• Wisconsin Severe Weather Climatology and Info Page from NWS Milwaukee Field Office


• Graph of annual number of Wisconsin tornadoes since 1950 according to F-scale


• Wisconsin Severe Weather Climatology and Info Page from NWS Milwaukee Field Office
  
• Wisconsin Tornado and Severe Weather Statistics 1844- current Green Bay NWSFO
• Map and graph of annual number of Wisconsin tornadoes (1974-2007)


• Total number of Wisconsin tornadoes by county (1844-2007)


• Wisconsin Tornado Project Geographic Techniques™
  Contains A statistical analysis of Wisconsin tornado climatology
  by Glenn R. Lussky, NWSFO La Crosse, WI
• Analysis of initiation times of severe weather events across Wisconsin 1982-2009 (from NWS Milwaukee)
  
• Number of hurricane-force wind events 75mph or greater and 100mph or greater in Wisconsin 1970-2011


• Severe Weather of Northeast and North-Central Wisconsin from NWSFO Green Bay, WI

• A Severe Weather Climatology for the La Crosse, WI County Warning and Forecast Area
• by Steven R. Thompson, NWSFO La Crosse, WI
• Wisconsin tornado climatologies
  
• Knox, P. Naber & D.G.Norgord, 2000: A tornado climatology for Wisconsin. Bulletin 100 Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, vi, 29 p. : ill., maps.
• Burley, M.W. and P.J. Waite, 1965: Wisconsin tornadoes. Transactions of the Wisconsn Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, vol.54, p 1-34.
• Severe Weather Climatology for the La Crosse Forecast Area (NWSFO, La Crosse)
  includes all severe weather events (severe wind, hail and tornado) for 1955-2008
• Additional tornado information for the La Crosse Forecast Area (NWSFO, La Crosse)
  
  
  
• Map of large hail reports across state in 2017 (Ready Wisconsin)
• Map of strong wind gust reports across state in 2017 (Ready Wisconsin)
  
• Story Map series feature entitled "Southern Wisconsin - Significant Weather Events & Weather Safety Information"from Milwaukee/Sullivan NWS Office
  includes descriptions of the F5 Oakfield and Barneveld Tornadoes, the 1998 Wisconsin Derecho, the January 2008 Wisconsin tornado outbreak and the 2008 southern Wisconsin flooding.
• Map of average annual lightning density across Wisconsin (2016-2020) from Vaisala

Heat Waves

• Heat index charts from National Climatic Data Center

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/societal-impacts/heat-stress/climatology

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/societal-impacts/heat-stress/climatology
Heat stress charts for animals from Iowa State University


• Interactive weather calculator from MRCC


• Heat Index Climatology for the North Central States
  by Todd Rieck, NWSFO, La Crosse
  (A 14-page pdf file, including maps and tabulated data)
  Heat Index Climatology for the North Central States
  by Todd Rieck, NWSFO, La Crosse
  (A 14-page pdf file, including maps and tabulated data)
   
• Heat Index Climatology Interactive Map from MRCC
  Long-term average values of the days and hours for area stations from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast, where the Heat Index equals or exceeds threshold values ranging from 80°F to 115°F. Monthly and annual averages are available. [MRCC GIS Maps] (NOTE MRCC also has a selection of analyzed maps of the states to the east of Rockies that show the spatial distributions of calendar year totals of the average number of days with at least one hour with Heat Index readings exceeding specified threshold readings or for days with three or more hours with similarly specified heat index thresholds.)
• See our Summer Climate Page

Floods and Flash Floods

• Flood events in Wisconsin by county from NWSFO Milwaukee/Sullivan
• What is a "100-Year Flood"?
  See US Geological Survey General Information Product 106, 
  (Recommended Citation: Holmes, R.R., Jr., Dinicola, K., 2010, 100-Year flood-it's all about chance: U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 106, 1 p.)

Severe Winter Weather

• Severe Winter Weather Climatology (1982/83 - 2016/17)
  from NWS Field Office Milwaukee/Sullivan
  

  Winter Storms	Blizzards
  Ice Storms	Extreme Cold
  All Winter Events

• History of Major Ice Storms in Wisconsin since 1972
  (Courtesy of NWS Field Office Milwaukee/Sullivan
• Wind Chill Climatology for the North Central States
  by Todd Rieck and Seth Binau, NWSFO, La Crosse
  (An 11-page pdf file, including maps and tabulated data)
• See our Winter Climate Page

Wildfires and Fire Weather

National Weather Service Fire Weather Pages

Wisconsin DNR
https://www.dnr.state.wi.us/forestry/Fire/

Long term wildfire statistics in Wisconsin

• Number of forest fires per year
  https://www.aos.wisc.edu/oldsco/clim_impacts/WI-wildfires/wi-wildfire-freq.gif

• Number of acres burned per year
  https://www.aos.wisc.edu/oldsco/clim_impacts/WI-wildfires/wi-wildfire-acres.gif
   

Minnesota DNR
 https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/fire/index.html
 

Michigan DNR

https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-30301_30505_30816-49815--,00.html
 

https://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/gla/NFPJFSP/purpose.htm

SPC Fire Weather Forecast

Active Fires across US
From US Forest Service -- Remote Sensing Applications Center

https://www.fs.fed.us/land/wfas/kbdi.png

National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)

Natural Hazards Assessment

• US Hazards Assessment from NOAA CPC
  https://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/threats.shtml
   
• National Hazards Statistics from NWS
  https://www.weather.gov/os/hazstats.shtml
  Service Assessments from NWS
  https://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/index.shtml
  July 1995 Heat Wave https://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/index.shtml
  Great Flood of 1993 https://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/93_Flood.pdf
  NWS Aware Report https://www.weather.gov/os/Aware/index.shtml
  NWS Brochures https://www.weather.gov/os/brochures.shtml
• US Hazards Assessment (forecast) from Climate Prediction Center
• US National Climate Assessment
  Part 3: Climate of the Midwest U.S. (Regional Climate Trends and Scenarios for the U.S. National Climate Assessment, NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 142) (pdf)