Pierce County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 1, 2001Hail$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind driven baseball size hail damaged houses and vehicles, and knocked out hundreds of windows on the south side of town. The local University was particularly hard hit, including a greenhouse that was destroyed.

2. Jun 29, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Barn and garages destroyed. Telephone poles down. Barn destroyed by fire. Estimated windspeed. Damage estimate for entire county.

3. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Structural damage to many buildings. Grocery store lost portion of roof. Local airport lost hangar roof and doors. Estimated wind speed. Damage estimate for entire county.

4. Jun 11, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six barns leveled, numerous sheds and outbuildings down. Trees and power lines felled, some on houses. Damage figures are totals from all storms in Pierce County between 1558 and 1800.

5. Apr 7, 2001High Wind, Pierce$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong surface low pressure system moved out of the southwestern US and into north central Minnesota by the early afternoon on the 7th. This system produced numerous wind gusts in the 55 to 60 mph range across portions of west central Wisconsin. A gust of 61 mph was measured at the Hager City airport. Some damages of note include a mobile home blown over on its side in Rock Elm (Pierce county), roof damage to a school in Prescott (Pierce county), signs ripped loose, siding damaged on a business, and a semi trailer blown off interstate 94 in Roberts (St. Croix County).

6. Jul 14, 2010Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several sheds and outbuildings were destroyed, as were a couple of barns. Hundreds of trees were snapped. The tornado was accompanied by strong rear flank downdraft winds that also knocked down numerous trees.

7. Jul 14, 2010Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several barns and sheds were destroyed, and structural damage was noted at some homes. Many trees were broken or snapped. This tornado was accompanied by strong rear flank downdraft winds, which also knocked down trees and damaged some sheds.

8. May 30, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
9. Jul 28, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey determined a downburst hit the west side of Spring Valley. Numerous trees, sheds and power lines were blown down. A school gymnasium roof was damaged and a lot of the debris landed on houses and vehicles. A local resident stated that the severe winds persisted for several minutes.

10. Jul 5, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A mesocyclone originated in Pierce County and caused widespread downburst damage across a 1.5 mile wide area. It knocked down many hundreds of trees, and partially removed the roof off of one house. The mesocyclone continued into Pepin County, where it continued to produce wind damage and then a tornado (see separate entries for Pepin County).

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 14, 1995

All-time low

−40°FDec 19, 1983

Warmest night

83°FJul 24, 1945

Coldest day

−20°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

7.10 inSep 16, 1992

Snowiest day

16.3 inMar 13, 2006

Hottest year

2024mean 48.4°F

Coldest year

2014mean 37.0°F

Wettest year

197046.22 in

Driest year

197617.84 in

Snowiest season

87.0 in1983-84

Station Ellsworth 1E (USC00472556), 1,030 ft elevation, 5.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1908 to October 12, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00472556.
• 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.