Salem Lakes

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 Kenosha County, the county that contains Salem Lakes.

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.

River crests

River gauges in Kenosha County, the county that contains Salem Lakes.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Kenosha County, the county that contains Salem Lakes.

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.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 24, 2006Lightning$14.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several lightning strikes to several buildings caused structural fires and power outages. A large apartment building, known as St. Catherine Commons, was struck by lightning. The resultant fire severely damaged the building, displacing about 125 residents.

2. Jan 7, 2008Tornado$13.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado in western Kenosha County was a continuation of the tornado that spun up 2.27 mils NE of Pell Lake in southeastern Walworth County. It crossed into Kenosha County about 0.4 mile north of where CTH U in Walworth County crosses the county line and becomes CTH F in Walworth County. The tornado continued northeast to just east of the intersection of STH 50 and CTH O, crossed STH 83 just north of 51st Street just north of New Munster Creek, passed through the Village of Wheatland, turned more east and crossed 308th Ave. just north of Peterson Creek, and then dissipated near a pond between CTH PH and 41st Street (Town Rd). Fifteen people in the Civil Town of Wheatland…

3. Jun 19, 2009Flash Flood$12.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains resluted in flash flooding in the southeast part of Kenosha County. Numerous streets were flooded with water depths of 2 to 4 feet , and several were impassable. Several vehicles were stranded in the flood waters and rescues were performed. Water depths were up to the windows of cars in the city of Kenosha. Interstate 94 at STH 165 was covered by water and southbound lanes were closed. STH 50 was closed from Intestate 94 east to CTH H. CTH C was closed going west from Interstate 94 due to high water levels. Several other roads were closed. Damage was noted to several culverts and road shoulders, and water lift stations/pumps were damaged in some facilities. Compounding…

4. Jan 7, 2008Tornado$7.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado was the 2nd of two tornadoes to affect southeastern Wisconsin on January 7th. It spun up near the intersection of CTH L (18th St.) and 47th Ave. and moved east/northeast through the northern reaches of the city of Kenosha, and dissipated just north of Carthage College and just short of Lake Michigan. In the Civil Town of Somers it resulted in minor damage to 2 homes, and major damage to one home. In the City of Kenosha, it affected one home, inflicted minor damage to 21 homes, inflicted major damage to 6 homes, and destroyed 5 homes. Additionally, it destroyed one church in the City of Kenosha. Several power-lines were toppled and there were transformer explosions.…

5. Jun 12, 2000Flash Flood$4.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of thunderstorms moved west to east across the same locations and dumped enough rain to cause flash flooding in the city of Kenosha (Kenosha County). Newspaper accounts indicated that 3 to 6 inches of rain fell across Kenosha County, with a measured 3.84 inches at the Kenosha Airport. Roughly 100 roads were closed due to water depths of 2 to 5 feet in low spots, especially in the cities of Kenosha, Somers, and Bristol. The flooding in the city of Kenosha was described as the worst in 15 years, and numerous homes and businesses reported varying degrees of damage to contents, and landscaping. Overall, hundreds of basements and numerous municipal pools were flooded.…

6. Jul 12, 2017Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three to eight inches of rain fell over Kenosha County from late evening on July 11th through much of the morning of July 12th causing days of areal flooding over portions of the county, including near the Fox River. The Fox River near New Munster had a record crest of 17.47 feet on July 13th. There was widespread flooding adjacent to the river in the Town of Wheatland, the Town of Salem, and the Village of Salem Lakes. Floodwaters are into the lower levels of some homes in those areas...including Shorewood Drive and Riverside Drive in the Village of Salem Lakes. Highway 50 is closed at the Fox River. Many roads were closed or washed-out in and near the Village of Paddock Lake,…

7. Jan 11, 2020Lakeshore Flood, Kenosha$3.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Near record high Lake Michigan water levels along with strong winds and resultant high waves peaking at 10 to 15 feet caused considerable erosion and lakeshore flood damage along the Kenosha County lakeshore. ||Some of the damage in the county included: ||Kemper Center County Park in Kenosha was severely damaged along the Lake Michigan shoreline due to high winds and waves. One thousand, five hundred feet of shoreline was damaged. Severe destruction occurred where voids in the shoreline were created, causing displaced rock and earth material. ||The Kenosha shoreline between 71st Street and 76th Street was damaged. A sinkhole developed and caused the shoreline to collapse in two…

8. Jun 1, 2004Flood, Kenosha$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered to widespread heavy rains across south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the period of June 9-12, 2004 kept many rivers and streams at or above flood stage for a good part, or most of the month. Monthly rainfall totals generally ranged from 4 to 7 inches across south-central and southeast Wisconsin, with some scattered spots in Sauk, Columbia, Dodge, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha Counties picking up 7 to 9.5 inches, or 50 to 100% above normal. In some cases, stretches of some rivers actually went above flood stage in May, 2004. Refer to flood and flash flood events in May, 2004, for additional information. During June, 2004, the high water levels kept much of the…

9. Jun 8, 2008Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding across much of Kenosha County. Water depths on road surfaces reached 3 feet or more and there were gravel washouts. Some farm fields remained flooded into early July. The breakdown for residential home losses were: 37 minimally affected, 47 with minor damage, 33 with major damage, and 3 destroyed (total of $300 thousand for home losses). There were no business losses. Crop losses were estimated at 2 million. Public sector damage was about $673 thousand. There were several roads and bridges that sustained damage.

10. Jun 1, 2000Flash Flood$1.5 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    One would be hard pressed to find another day like June 1, 2000 in terms of depth and range of severe, convective weather events across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Tornadoes, widespread and localized flash flooding, funnel clouds, damaging hurricane-force, straight-line winds associated with a wicked squall-line, large hail stones, urban/small flooding, lightning strikes, and significant mainstem river flooding were reported. As in the preceding weeks, a quasi-stationary front over northern Illinois served as a boundary for warm, moist, unstable air to be pulled north over the cooler air over Wisconsin. Leftover flooding (from the evening of May 31, 2000) and isolated…

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1995

All-time low

−27°F6 times, most recently Feb 1, 2019

Warmest night

79°FJul 27, 1955

Coldest day

−17°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.45 inAug 15, 2023

Snowiest day

17.0 inFeb 2, 2011

Hottest year

1998mean 49.4°F

Coldest year

2014mean 42.8°F

Wettest year

201950.50 in

Driest year

198918.40 in

Snowiest season

74.7 in2007-08

Station Burlington Wwtp (USC00471205), 777 ft elevation, 10.0 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1951 to October 28, 2026; 98.2% 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 Kenosha 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 USC00471205.
• 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.