West Bend

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 Washington County, the county that contains West Bend.

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 Washington County, the county that contains West Bend.

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. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$8.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the early morning hours of Sunday, May 31st, southcentral and southeast Wisconsin experienced an unprecedented, widespread downburst wind event known as a "derecho." Incredibly powerful, hurricane-force straight-line winds, with peak gusts of 100 to 128 mph tore through 12 counties in this part of the state, while another 8 counties had peak gusts of 60 to 80 mph. Residents noted that the strongest winds only lasted a minute or two, but gusty winds hung on for 15 to 30 minutes. Meteorologically, a solid squall line developed in southern Minnesota and gathered strength as it raced east with a translational speed of 50 to 60 mph across southcentral and southeast Wisconsin.…

2. Jun 8, 2008Flash Flood$5.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding over much of Washington County. Water depths on road surfaces reached 3 feet or more and there were gravel washouts. Some farm fields would remain flooded into early July. The breakdown in residential home losses were: 560 affectd with minimal damage, 60 with minor damage, and 12 with major damage (total of about $2.4 million). Business losses were: 45 with minor damage, and 5 with major damage (total of about $1.125 million). Crops losses were estimated at 3.5 million. Public sector damage was about $0.6 million. Several roads and bridges sustained damage.

3. Jun 18, 2006Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado segment is a continuation of the Dodge County segment southeast of Rubicon. This second segment entered Washington County at a location 2.0 miles west of Hartford (about 0.6 mile south of where STH 60 goes east into Dodge Co.) and headed east-southeast through the southern part of the city of Hartford. The tornado strengthened to a high end F1 as it passed through the city. Around 147 residences sustained at least some damage ranging from tree damage to severe structural damage. Ten businesses also sustained structural damage. Lincoln Elementary School's roof was completely destroyed. Estimated damage amounts totaled about 4 million dollars. One person was directly…

4. Jun 1, 2004Flood, Washington$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…

5. Jun 21, 1997Flash Flood$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding occurred primarily in southern Washington county as a result of heavy rainfall amounts in excess of 6 inches over a 30 hour period ending about 1200CST. This flash flooding was greater than a "100 year rainfall" based on rainfall frequency maps. No one was injured or killed by the flood waters, thanks to superb rescue efforts by local law enforcement officials and firefighters. Besides public sector damage in county/city parks, there was private and business damages. The hardest hit area was the city of Germantown. There were other reports of flooding damage scattered across the southern part of the county. (On July 7th, Washington county was officially declared a…

6. Aug 10, 2025Flash Flood$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding of streets, creeks, rivers, and low lying neighborhoods in West Bend and other communities over northern Washington County. Some vehicles were stranded in relatively deep, still water. The neighborhoods near the Silverbrook Creek Parkway experienced the worst of the flash flooding in West Bend, as several homes suffered foundation damage, while most had basement flooding. Some sewer backups occurred in West Bend. Approximately 316 properties reported flood damage.

7. Aug 10, 2025Flash Flood$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding of streets, creeks, rivers, and low lying neighborhoods in Germantown and surrounding areas. More specifically, the flash flooding of the Menomonee River and its tributaries flooded and closed portions of many roads. This included portions of County Line Road, a lane of I-41, Freistadt Road, Lilac Lane, Maple Road, Rockfield Road, and Wausaukee Road. There was a small number of stranded vehicles in relatively deep, still water, as well as some basement flooding in Germantown.

8. Aug 22, 2013Lightning$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A dump truck hauling granite was struck by lightning in the southbound lane of highway 41 north of Sherman Road in the Town of Polk. Some of the granite was propelled from the truck. In addition, a 18 inch deep and 3 foot long hole was found in the roadway from the lightning strike. Two vehicles behind the truck suffered wheel and tire damage due to the asphalt debris lying on the highway. No one was injured.

9. Aug 7, 2012Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained spotter reported large hail, between 1 1/4 inch and 1 1/2 inch in diameter that fell in Kewaskum. The 5-8 minute hail storm was the worst to hit Kewaskum in many years. Roughly 200 vehicles suffered damage from the hail, as well as many homes, condos, apartments and outdoor equipment. Hail damage to vehicles was about $250,000, and about $1.75 M to buildings and equipment. This information was supplied by local auto-body shops and insurance companies and is a broad estimate.

10. Apr 13, 2006Hail$2.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Wild weather occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 13, 2005. Wisconsin's most-costly hailstorm pummeled a large swath from around Mineral Point (Iowa Co.) to north of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), while hurricane-force thunderstorm winds raked parts of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties. Here's what happened: scattered supercells developed in eastern Iowa during the late afternoon hours of April 13th and pushed east-northeastward through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the evening. Three main hailstorms affected southern Wisconsin. The first hailstorm left a swath of hail and hail damage from southern Iowa County (around 1945CST),…

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°FJul 6, 2012

All-time low

−40°F2 times, most recently Jan 11, 1982

Warmest night

81°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−18°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

8.62 inAug 10, 2025

Snowiest day

15.3 inFeb 7, 2008

Hottest year

2012mean 49.7°F

Coldest year

2014mean 42.5°F

Wettest year

202543.68 in

Driest year

196218.81 in

Snowiest season

119.6 in2007-08

Station Germantown Wastewater Utility (USC00473058), 870 ft elevation, 12.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 19, 2026; 98.5% 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 Washington 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 USC00473058.
• 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.