Burnett County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Burnett County: 3.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 18, 2001Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down at 806 pm local daylight time 1.5 miles east of Grantsburg and traveled east at an average speed of 40 mph through the village of Siren to the Washburn County line, then continued on to a point 3 miles west of Spooner. The path of the tornado averaged 1/8 to 1/4 mile, but reached its greatest width of ½ mile as it approached Siren around 820 pm, where it did F-3 damage. Two people were killed by the tornado, and there were 16 injuries. Four hundred homes were destroyed, 200 in Siren alone, with 280 homes damaged, and 60 businesses destroyed or damaged. Most of the damage occurred in an 8-block area of Siren. Approximately 14,000 acres of trees were…

2. Sep 19, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Photos and video were received of large trees downed on several properties and on the roadway on Ham Lake Road in Danbury. One house also had a tree fall into the side of the house. Two properties along this road also had docks on Ham Lake that were damaged and flipped.

3. Mar 4, 2025Heavy Snow, Burnett$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall reports from around the county were in the 3 to 6 inch range. A high report of 7 inches was received from near Webster. Strong winds and heavy, wet snow led to damaged power lines in spots during the event.

4. Sep 26, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A corn bin was lifted off its base and dashed into the side of a farm house. The wind speed is estimated.

5. Oct 4, 2005Flood, Burnett$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain fell overnight causing the Wood River and Memory Lake to overflow their banks. A few homes were evacuated near the Wood River. Around $50,000 damage was done to roadways from erosion along the Wood River. Schools in Webster and Grantsburg were closed for the day. Several roads were also closed due to high water, including portions of Highways 48, 70, and 87.

6. Aug 2, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were reported down or snapped. The reporter estimates that 80 plus trees were down on their 90 acre property and neighbors had damage to their home due to trees falling on it.

7. Aug 26, 2024Flash Flood$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Burnett County dispatch reported two cars stalled in ponded water on the roadway.

8. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Only one wall was left intact on a camper-trailer. No one was inside at the time.

9. Aug 28, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several branches were down and a small tree had been split in two. Some dock and pontoon boat damage was also reported on Devils Lake.

10. Jul 19, 2023Hail$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Damage to siding, window trim and to the roof of a home were reported due to the golf ball sized hail.

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°FJul 16, 2006

All-time low

−44°FJan 14, 1965

Warmest night

78°F4 times, most recently Jul 18, 2011

Coldest day

−21°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

7.83 inOct 5, 2005

Snowiest day

17.0 in2 times, most recently Apr 17, 2014

Hottest year

2024mean 47.2°F

Coldest year

1951mean 38.3°F

Wettest year

196845.08 in

Driest year

197618.77 in

Snowiest season

83.3 in2022-23

Station Grantsburg (USW00014995), 990 ft elevation, 14.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1950 to March 31, 2026; 96.2% 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.

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 USW00014995.
• 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.