Oconto County

Every recorded tornado

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

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 7, 2007Tornado$10.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The long-track tornado moved from Langlade Co. into Oconto Co. about 8 miles west of Mountain at 4:58 PM CDT. The tornado reached a width of three-quarters of a mile wide as it flattened over 7000 acres of trees in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (DI 27, DOD4). The tornado destroyed or heavily damaged 12 homes (DI 4, DOD 11), with 14 others sustaining damage of varying degrees. Nearly all of the damaged homes were either manufactured homes or vacation cottages. Two people sustained minor injuries as they sought shelter in a bedroom of their home. The tornado dissipated about 10 miles east-northeast of Lakewood, near the Marinette County line, at 5:18 PM CDT. The tornado…

2. Jul 1, 2006Hail$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms moved across northeast Wisconsin as a cold front pushed through the area. Several large storms produced hail of 2 inches to 4 inches in diameter during the afternoon and evening. Four inch diameter hail was reported in Suring (Oconto co.) and hailstones of just over 3 inches in diameter were measured east of Oconto Falls (Oconto co.) and near Branch (Manitowoc co.). An observer found tennis ball size hail near Hayes (Oconto co.) half an hour after the storms ended there. Damage amounts listed in this report are estimates. Gaint hail caused damage to more than 700 vehicles, denting them and smashing their windows. The hail damaged at least 800 homes, breaking windows,…

3. Dec 30, 2019Flood$384,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice jam and high river stages produced flooding in the city of Oconto. The high water mainly affected Pecor, McDonald, Water, Turner, Ontario, Bridge, First and Second streets. The mobile home park on Farnsworth Avenue also Flooded. Washington Street by the Oconto County Courthouse also flooded as storm sewers overflowed.

4. Jul 19, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed trees along Highway 64 between Pound and Mountain.

5. May 12, 2022Flash Flood$335,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of thunderstorms dumped upwards of 7 inches of rain over central Oconto County during the late afternoon and evening hours. This caused damage to area roads, bridges, culverts, and parks across the central part of the county as well as several area roads to be washed out. The hardest hit areas were in or near the city of Spruce and north of Gillett.

6. Jul 19, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees in and around Mountain.

7. Jun 10, 2026Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A bolt of lightning struck a residence in the Townsend area, which started a fire and produced extensive damage to the home, estimated to be around $100,000.

8. Apr 28, 2020Lakeshore Flood, Southern Oconto$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of record high lake levels on the Bay of Green Bay and strong northeast winds caused flooding along the shoreline in Oconto County. The high water ranged from several inches to a few feet deep that approached or surrounded several residences and buildings along Harbor Road, Spies Road, Yacht Club Road, Bayshore Road, and Splinter Causeway.

9. Jan 1, 2020Flood$96,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice jam and high river stages produced flooding in the city of Oconto. The high water mainly affected Pecor, McDonald, Water, Turner, Ontario, Bridge, First and Second streets. The mobile home park on Farnsworth Avenue also Flooded. Washington Street by the Oconto County Courthouse also flooded as storm sewers overflowed.

10. Jul 30, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms moved through Wisconsin in very warm and unstable air ahead of a cold front. Severe thunderstorm winds and tornadoes downed trees and power lines and damaged buildings across a large swath of central, north central and east central Wisconsin. Thousands of trees and power lines were downed by high winds from the storms. An 11 year old Boy Scout was killed and another was seriously injured when trees landed on their tent at Camp Napowan (Waushara co.).High winds pushed a house off its foundation and blew a boat and trailer into a neighbor's yard near Merrill (Lincoln co.). Some downed trees damaged or destroyed buildings or vehicles when they fell. A church steeple was…

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°F3 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−35°F2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1996

Warmest night

85°FAug 23, 1947

Coldest day

−17°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

6.40 inJul 29, 1991

Snowiest day

20.2 inMar 16, 2026

Hottest year

1964mean 47.9°F

Coldest year

1972mean 40.7°F

Wettest year

201949.93 in

Driest year

196314.81 in

Snowiest season

91.0 in2018-19

Station Oconto 4 W (USC00476208), 660 ft elevation, 9.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 17, 2026; 95.0% 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 USC00476208.
• 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.