Jackson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 23, 2010Flood$2.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed throughout the county due to heavy rains and flooding along rivers, streams, and creeks. Most bridges on township roads were over-topped with water. At one time, 56 roads were closed throughout the county. State Highway 95 was closed in several locations. Other specific road closures included Old Highway 95 and County Roads S, X, and VV. Lowland flooding occurred across much of the county, while many roads, trails, and campgrounds in the Black River State Forest were closed. Pigeon Creek was flooded and the Pigeon Falls Dam incurred some damage. Parks around Merrillan were all flooded, and the baseball field in Hixton was completely underwater. A person…

2. Sep 22, 2016Flood$825,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Black River out of its banks in Black River Falls. The river crested over thirteen feet above the flood stage at 60.3 feet, which was the 3rd highest crest on record at the time. The hydroelectric dam lost a gate when a large tree traveled through it. Several boats and docks that broke away on Lake Arbutus also traveled through the dam.

3. Dec 23, 2021Winter Weather, Jackson$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Icy conditions developed on Interstate 94 after a band of freezing drizzle moved across the area. A 38 vehicle accident occurred near Northfield and some vehicles were destroyed in a fire. No deaths occurred with about 20 minor injuries reported.

4. Sep 6, 2015Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters from Schoolhouse Creek caused U.S. Highways 10 and 12 to be closed in the extreme northern part of Jackson County east of Price. Numerous other roads were washed out with general flooding across the northern sections of the county covering much of the Townships of Cleveland and Garfield. Two accidents occurred when the drivers attempted to drive their vehicles over water covered roads that had been washed out. Three residents were stranded when flood waters overtook a dead end road in the Town of Cleveland. There were no reports of damage to private property with the damage limited to roads.

5. Sep 23, 2010Flood$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Locally heavy rains pushed the Black River at Black River Falls out of its banks from September 23rd to the 27th. The river exceeded the flood stage by over fourteen feet, cresting at 61.46 feet. This crest established a new flood of record. Ironically the dam at Black River Falls was being reconstructed during this event and was not in place during the peak. An early damage estimate of $600,000 was lowered to $110,000 at the dam by the utility and local contractor. From the evening of the 23rd to the afternoon of the 24th, 80 homes in the city of Black River Falls were evacuated.

6. Apr 14, 2026Hail$325,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported tennis ball sized hail in Millston. The report was relayed via social media.

7. Jul 20, 2017Flash Flood$303,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After heavy rains of 4 to 6 inches, flash flooding occurred across the southwest sections of Jackson County. French Creek went out of its banks sending water over County Road X southeast of Taylor. The townships of Springfield, Franklin and North Bend were hit the hardest with several roads either washed out or damaged from the flooding. Two homes sustained minor damage during the flooding.

8. Aug 13, 2010Flood$297,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Various roads were closed across parts of Jackson county and sustained damage from flooding. The flooding also caused damage to some parks and utility systems.

9. Aug 24, 2012Lightning$210,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A log home was completely destroyed by a fire that was started by a lightning strike. Fire crews were first called to the area around 330 a.m. but found no evidence of a fire and left. They returned to the scene around 5 a.m. to find the home completely engulfed in flames. Three fire departments battled the fire for over 4 hours. Local officials estimated the value of the home and contents at just over $200,000.

10. Jun 1, 2000Flash Flood$116,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Localized flash flooding occurred as 2 to 3 inches of rain fell in less than two hours. Law enforcement officials reported a few county roads near North Bend (Jackson County) were washed out.

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, 23.6 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.