Ashland County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Ashland County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Apr 14, 2002Flood, Ashland$189,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dense snowpack, temperatures in the 80s, and heavy rain contributed to widespread flooding in central and southern Ashland County. Both the Bad and Chippewa Rivers flooded, closing roads in Mellin and Glidden. In Glidden, 20 homes and businesses were damaged by floodwaters of the north fork of the Chippewa River. A 100-yard stretch of Highway 13 was closed due to high water. Highway 169 between Mellin and U.S. Highway 2 was closed. Other small streams and creeks overflowed their banks and caused minor lowland flooding.

2. Jun 6, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds caused extensive damage at the Ashland county fairgrounds. A cow barn was destroyed and the grandstand was severely damaged. Some debris was blown 300 feet. Many trees were blown down. Half of a double-wide modular home was overturned elsewhere in Marengo. The wind speed was estimated based on the amount of damage.

3. Jul 1, 2011Lightning$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A home sustained an estimated $80,000 worth of damage after lightning struck it, causing a fire. Lightning struck a gas meter located on the side of the house, igniting natural gas.

4. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The winds blew down numerous trees. Several homes were damaged from falling trees. There was also some structural damage at the Ashland County fairgrounds.

5. May 22, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was minor siding damage to a home, a metal barn collapsed, and some trees were blown down along Balsam Lane to the east-southeast of Butternut. The metal barn probably collapsed at a lower wind speed than would normally be expected, given a lack of damage to nearby pine trees. Estimated wind gusts in this area were around 80 mph.

6. Oct 26, 2010Strong Wind, Ashland$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The strong wind gusts caused scattered power outages county-wide. According to the sheriffs department, the most heavily affected areas in the county were in the towns of Chippewa and Jacobs. Lots of trees were blown down, along with trees blown onto power lines. Some damage was also reported on Madeline Island.

7. Aug 13, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$3,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms blew through northwest and north-central Wisconsin...producing damaging winds and some hail.

8. Jul 14, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$2,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Power lines were reported down along U.S. Highway 13.

9. May 9, 2011High Wind, Ashland$2,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds uprooted trees, blew down some tree limbs and tree branches, and brought down a few power lines. This sporadic damage was confirmed from spotter and public reports, as well as local newspaper articles. The strong winds uprooted large pine trees at the Mellen Union Cemetery, and the root structures overturned some grave stones. Amateur radio reported a satellite dish and a few shingles blown off a house around Mellen. Wind gusts at individual stations were measured at 43 mph in High Bridge, and 46 mph in Glidden. However, damage suggests that isolated areas probably received wind gusts up to 60 knots (69 mph).

10. Apr 10, 2011Hail$1,500
    National Weather Service narrative

    Oblong and spiky hail stones up to 3 inches in diameter fell near the town of Odanah.

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 13, 1936

All-time low

−43°FFeb 21, 1939

Warmest night

78°FMay 29, 2006

Coldest day

−18°FJan 5, 1942

Wettest day

5.36 inJul 9, 2020

Snowiest day

21.0 inDec 28, 1982

Hottest year

1998mean 45.1°F

Coldest year

2014mean 37.4°F

Wettest year

195144.96 in

Driest year

197616.93 in

Snowiest season

147.1 in1982-83

Station Brule Rs (USC00471131), 1,000 ft elevation, 38.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1928 to October 19, 2026; 91.8% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00471131.
• 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.