Bayfield County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 17, 2018Flash Flood$2.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   US Highway 2 was washed out at North Fish Creek west of Tomich Road east of Ino. The culvert failed and eroded the road on both sides.

2. Jul 30, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst winds hit the Bayfield waterfront where an art fair was in progress at Memorial Park. Most of the ninety fair tents were demolished and art pieces were tossed into Lake Superior. A woman broke her hand while a man received a large gash on his hand. Numerous large trees were blown down in Bayfield. The local Catholic church lost a portion of its roof, resulting in damage estimated at $300,000. There was an unverified report of a private weather system clocking the wind at 99 mph before it became inoperable. At the Apostle Island Marina numerous boats lost their canvas coverings. Many boats lost their stanchions after being tipped under the docks by the strong winds.…

3. Jul 5, 1999Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highways and bridges near Port Wing, Bayfield, and Washburn were flooded by heavy rain from slow-moving thunderstorms.

4. Jul 14, 1999Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy thunderstorm rains caused U.S. Highway 2 and State Highway 118 to flood and partially wash out.

5. Jun 17, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major wind damage to docks and a few boats occurred at two marinas. Many docks were destroyed. One 40 foot boat was destroyed. There was also three-quarter inch hail and some downed trees.

6. Oct 4, 2005Flash Flood$345,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms producing heavy rain moved into Bayfield County dropping 3.00 inches in the town of Bayfield and 3.61 inches in the town of Washburn. Several roads were closed as the Fish Creek overtopped its banks between Moquah and Ashland. Around one foot of water covered County Road G and Highway 2. The property damage estimate was to roads and water treatments.

7. Jun 18, 2024Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Areas of flooding and washed out roads were reported in the City of Bayfield.

8. Jun 19, 2024Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 5 foot wide section of State Highway 13 just east of Herbster washed out when the culvert underneath failed. A car drove into the washout and the driver was trapped but only had minor injuries.

9. Apr 11, 2023Flood$16,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Warm temperatures early in April led to rapid snowmelt of a well above normal snowpack across the region. Additionally, heavy rainfall on top of the snowpack led to additional high runoff across the county as well. Roads began to be impacted on the 11th with water overtopping low spots leading to washouts and failed culverts. Temperatures cooled during the middle of the month along with a heavy snow event the 16th into the 17th. This allowed the runoff to slow and water levels to drop. However, water levels rose again later in the month as this new snow melted as well. Numerous road closures were reported across the entire county due to failed culverts, washouts and gravel roads…

10. Oct 26, 2017Lakeshore Flood, Bayfield$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A boardwalk along the south shore of Lake Superior was destroyed by strong winds and waves that flowed onshore in Port Wing.

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, 23.5 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.