Monroe County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Monroe 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. Aug 28, 2018Flash Flood$26.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from heavy rain caused flash flooding to occur across the southern sections of Monroe County. Near Melvina, a resident had to be rescued from a home surrounded by flood waters. Flooding was extreme along the Little La Crosse River along and just east of Highway 27 between Cashton and Sparta where numerous homes were flooded, rescues were needed, and roads were damaged. Flooding along Moore Creek in Norwalk damaged some ballfields and the village office. In Kendall, a park along the Baraboo River was destroyed and a newly installed road to the village's wastewater treatment plant was washed out. Most of the flood damaged homes and business were along Glen Street. Across the…

2. Apr 10, 2011Hail$6.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail ranging in size from a penny to tennis ball fell in Tomah.

3. Jul 20, 2017Flash Flood$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains, with totals of 6 to 8 inches, produced flash flooding across the western and central sections of Monroe County. A mudslide occurred between Sparta and Tomah in the Jackson Pass area that blocked State Highway 16. In Sparta, water spilled over the dam at Perch Lake prompting officials to advise people who lived downstream along the La Crosse River to evacuate, including a trailer park and water went over several roads. Around 10 roads across the county were closed because of the flooding.

4. Jul 20, 2017Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After the initial round of flash flooding, the lingering flood waters continued to cause problems across Monroe County into Friday, July 21st. Thirty-nine families across the county had to be evacuated and another 56 were affected by the flooding. State Highway 131 in the far southern part of the county was closed because of flooding along the Kickapoo River and State Highway 27 between Leon and Sparta was also closed. Several township roads were flooded along the La Crosse and Baraboo Rivers. A total of 10 state or county highways were closed because of the flooding. One home sustained major damage and another eight suffered minor damage.

5. Jun 7, 2008Flash Flood$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mudslides forced the closure of some township roads.

6. Jun 18, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms accompanied by straight-line winds up to 70 mph caused extensive damage across southwest Wisconsin.A short-lived tornado hit a dairy barn near Retreat (Vernon Co.), killing five cows and injuring one person. The F1 tornado skipped along the ground and stacked trees together after its passage.A second smaller tornado hit Lancaster (Grant Co.) causing damage to several homes and knocking down hundreds of trees in the city.Other notable damage consisted of a roof blown off the elementary school in Cashton (Monroe Co.) and a bowling alley in Westby (Vernon Co.). In West Salem (La Crosse Co.), a large circus tent, with 500 people inside, collapsed during…

7. May 22, 2011Tornado$915,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado passed into Monroe county just east of Rockland (La Crosse County) and continued to the east-northeast before dissipating in the southeast portion of Sparta. Along its path, the tornado destroyed one home east of Rockland, demolished 4 mobile homes and created damage to at least 50 homes in Sparta. At a car dealership on the south side of Sparta, a car was tossed 40 feet and flipped upside down and a billboard sign was knocked over on to a truck. Total damages from this tornado are estimated to be around $900 thousand. An estimated 200 customers lost power in Sparta as a result of this tornado.

8. Jun 15, 2022Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF2 tornado developed south of Tomah and moved northeast before crossing into Juneau County north of Shennington. The tornado crossed Interstates 90 & 94 and passed just to the east of Wyeville. Along its path, extensive tree damage occurred with some downed trees landing on homes, numerous semis were tipped over along Interstate 90/94 resulting in two injuries, a metal farm shed near Oakdale had several pieces of metal removed, and a few structures near Wyeville sustained damage, including at least one farm outbuilding that was destroyed. Up to three hour delays occurred along Interstate 90 after the tornado moved through. Monroe County declared a state of emergency.

9. May 22, 2011Tornado$510,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first developed about 4 miles northwest of Tomah. It then proceeded to move east-northeast crossing Interstate 94 north of Tomah. A house and mobile home were destoyed north of Tomah and another house was significantly damaged northeast of Tomah. The tornado then passed through mainly wooded rural areas before crossing into Juneau County southwest of Mather. Damage estimates for this tornado are just over $500,000.

10. Aug 23, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hail as large as baseballs, along with thunderstorm wind gusts as high as 75 mph, were reported by law enforcement officials, storm spotters, amateur radio operators and the public. Hail storms repeatedly moved over the same areas, especially along the Interstate 94 corridor. Hardest hit was the area from near Millston (Jackson County) to Warrens and Tomah (Monroe County), where large hail substancially damaged corn and soybean fields, as well as cranberry plants. In fact, cranberry plant loss was projected at 50 percent. Large hail also shattered windshields of numerous vehicles, broke windows and damaged roofs and siding of homes. In addition to the hail, Tomah was hard hit by…

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

108°FJul 13, 1995

All-time low

−37°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

81°F3 times, most recently Jun 30, 2026

Coldest day

−18°FDec 23, 1983

Wettest day

5.59 inAug 7, 2021

Snowiest day

14.4 inDec 3, 1990

Hottest year

1998mean 51.9°F

Coldest year

1950mean 42.4°F

Wettest year

201644.76 in

Driest year

194816.74 in

Snowiest season

78.7 in1961-62

Station La Crosse Municipal Airport (USW00014920), 650 ft elevation, 30.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00014920.
• 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.