Chippewa Falls

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Chippewa County, the county that contains Chippewa Falls.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Chippewa County, the county that contains Chippewa Falls.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 24, 2019Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the continuation track of the tornado in Dunn County that crossed 10th Street, south of 560th Avenue. As the tornado tracked northeast, the tornado intensified to an EF3 where considerable damage occurred near County Road X, or Highway 29, and 30th Street, or County Road M. The tornado crossed Highway 29, and move northeast until dissipating east of 50th Street, north of County Road X. ||Based on the NWS Storm Survey, the most significant damage occurred in Wheaton Township, or east of Elk Mound around the intersection of County Road M, and Highway 29. This area saw entire groves of trees leveled, some stripping of bark, and the destruction of several structures. The…

2. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs torn off 6 houses. Roof partially torn off library. Barn collapse resulted in 10 cattle lost 3 miles south of Cadott. Water damage to Cadott Area Historical Society. Estimated windspeed.

3. Sep 21, 2016Flash Flood$882,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding occurred across southern Chippewa County due to extreme rainfall rates, and amounts of 5 to 8 inches fell in less than 6 hours. A 50 foot section of railroad was damaged near Stanley, and there was minor damage to 12 businesses and homes, and 3 more with major damage. Total damages were estimated at $400,000 in the private section, $100,000 in railroad expenses, and $382,000 in roads, bridges and trails infrastructure.

4. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Airplane hangar collapsed damaging airplane and vehicles. Estimated wind speed. Damage estimate for entire county.

5. Jun 11, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several barns and silos down, few garages and sheds destroyed, minor house damage, many hundreds of trees down in a swath several miles wide. About 80 roads were blocked by fallen trees. Damage figure includes totals from all storms in Chippewa County from 1735 to 1850.

6. May 24, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were uprooted in the Village of Lake Hallie, or northeast of Eau Claire airport. In addition, several of the trees landed on houses and blocked roads, near 20th to 35th Avenue, and along 115th to 130th Street. Several of the trees had bases up to 3 feet in diameter, which caused damage to buildings, flipped over a recreational vehicle, and caused multiple power lines and poles to blow down in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

7. May 1, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof blown off Moose Lodge, numerous trees and power lines down.

8. Apr 17, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Narrow swath of wind damage. Roofs blown off 4 barns. Several outbuildings down. Dozens of trees snapped. Windmill twisted. One man sustained minor injuries when his semi truck was blown into the path of another semi. Downburst wind per NWS damage survey.

9. Jul 23, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive tree and power line damage was reported countywide. At Chippewa Valley Regional Airport a large hangar door was ripped off and planes suffered minor damage. A car window was broken and the side of a hangar was dented by flying debris and/or hail. In Halle 10 orchard trees were damaged. In Cornell the center of three silos was blown down onto a 100 foot barn. A nearby milk house and calf barn were also demolished by the high wind. In Eagleton a corn field was flattened and an Oak tree was uprooted.

10. Apr 18, 2019Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Duncan Creek Campground, downstream from the dam, sustained some flood damage from the release of water at Tilden Mill Pond. Flood waters were high enough to reach some of the camper trailers and at least one unit camper was destroyed. It appeared to be a ���fifth wheel��� unit. No injuries were reported.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

104°F2 times, most recently Aug 1, 1988

All-time low

−45°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

82°FJun 22, 2025

Coldest day

−19°F3 times, most recently Feb 2, 1996

Wettest day

5.98 inSep 10, 2000

Snowiest day

22.0 inDec 11, 2010

Hottest year

1998mean 48.8°F

Coldest year

1950mean 40.2°F

Wettest year

197545.42 in

Driest year

197617.22 in

Snowiest season

98.8 in2018-19

Station Chippewa Valley Regional Airport (USW00014991), 884 ft elevation, 6.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Chippewa County.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00014991.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.