Clark County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Sep 21, 2016Flash Flood$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding from the South Branch of O'Neill Creek covered County Highway Y south of Chili. Standing water covered State Highway 73 in Christie. The emergency manager reported around 65 locations across the county had water over the road or culverts washed out. Fifteen homes were damaged by the flooding. A state of emergency was declared for the entire county.

2. Aug 23, 2011Tornado$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two people were directly injured and there was an indirect loss of life from an EF2 tornado that tracked across the east central sections of Clark County near Chili. The death occurred when an oxygen machine stopped working due to a power outage caused by the tornado. The tornado was on the ground for just over 7 miles and destroyed four homes, damaged at least 19 others, destroyed four barns and 15 outbuildings with numerous other farm buildings damaged. One farmer lost several specialty birds including 12 peacocks and 16 guinea hens. Around 1500 residents across Clark County were without power after the storms moved through. Damages from the tornado are estimated to be around $1.5 million.

3. Sep 23, 2010Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding caused numerous county and township roads as well as some state roads to be closed across the southern half of the county, mainly south of Greenwood. Many low-lying township roads were closed, while some culverts were damaged and needed replacing. The hardest hit areas included the townships of Hewitt, Lynn, Sherwood, and Washburn. Water surged out of Mead Lake into the South Fork Eau Claire River, which then overflowed County Road M. The River Road just southwest of Greenwood was closed as the Black River flowed over the road. A pickup tried to cross this portion of the road and was swept into the ditch. In Abbotsford, Lindon Street and Pickard Road were closed as the…

4. Sep 6, 2015Flash Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters from the Black River covered County Road G just west of Greenwood. Waters flowing through a drainage ditch undercut Chickadee Road near Gorman Avenue southwest of Willard. County Highway M was closed north of County Highway I when a culvert was washed out. This is the second time in three years that this section of County M has been washed out. County Highway B was undermined by water west of Humbird. The flood waters also prompted the closing of the county's ATV and horse trails. The flood waters damaged the dam at Emerson Lake with repairs estimated to cost almost a quarter of a million dollars. Highway damage along was estimated at $536,200.

5. May 15, 2025Tornado$725,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This strong tornado developed in fields west of Unity before tracking northeast toward Colby. As it moved through rural areas of northeastern Clark County, it damaged multiple farm outbuildings, trees, numerous power poles, and a home. NWS Storm Survey indicated EF2 damage to this home as the majority of its roof was removed with the attached garage heavily damaged. The tornado continued into the southeastern edge of Colby where multiple outbuildings, a home, and a car dealership sustained damage. The tornado moved into Marathon County before it quickly dissipated.

6. Jun 4, 2005Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near Loyal (Clark County), knocking down a pole barn and power lines. The tornado continued on a 17 mile long path, touching down intermittently. Several farm buildings along the tornado's path were damaged, along with one business being completely destroyed. A second tornado touched down near Medford (Taylor County), which damaged a house and nearby trees. The third and final tornado occured near Gilman (Taylor County), damaging a residence and blowing a boat across a field. The tornado also overturned a few trees and blew some debris from nearby buildings into a field.

7. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A fast moving line of severe thunderstorms caused wind gusts of 90 mph. Several barns were damaged or destroyed in the Loyal area, while numerous trees were blown down across the county. Barns and mobile home were damaged in Pine Valley township and in the Greenwood area.

8. Jun 22, 2002Flash Flood$345,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Repeated thunderstorms with heavy rain caused flash flooding over parts of central Wisconsin. Hardest hit was the northeast part of Adams County where Doppler radar estimated total amounts of 15 inches. Cooperative weather observers reported 5 inches of rain at Big Flats, 7 inches in Leola and 10 to 12 inches in areas just north and east of Leola. Numerous roads were closed or badly eroded, with many bridges washed out. Area lakes were full, while levees and dikes nearly breached. Many basements and septic fields flooded out. In northeast Clark County, numerous roads were damaged and closed. Both Adams and Clark County received federal disaster assistance due to the flooding,…

9. May 21, 2024Tornado$330,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down southwest of Unity, moved through the village, and ended northeast of town in Marathon County (NWS Green Bay's warning area). Besides damage to trees and power lines, several homes and garages had extensive damage, especially to roofs.

10. May 21, 2024Tornado$270,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado occurred on the left flank of a broad area of downburst wind damage with the tornado path intermittent in nature as the downburst mixed in at times. Multiple farmsteads were hit with damage mainly to trees and outbuildings.

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

106°F3 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−48°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

82°FJul 27, 1941

Coldest day

−26°FJan 24, 1904

Wettest day

5.00 inAug 8, 1980

Snowiest day

20.0 inDec 28, 1904

Hottest year

2024mean 47.5°F

Coldest year

1950mean 39.5°F

Wettest year

190044.31 in

Driest year

195820.03 in

Snowiest season

79.2 in2022-23

Station Neillsville 3ESE (USC00475808), 1,080 ft elevation, 17.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 20, 2026; 97.6% 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 USC00475808.
• 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.