Polk County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Polk County: 4.
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. Sep 12, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$4.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds estimated around 85 MPH produced significant damage on the south and east side of Amery. Emergency management reported minor damage to 26 residential and 3 business structures, major damage to 1 residential and 12 business structures, and the destruction of 7 business structures in town. Six hangars at the Amery airport including the airplanes and supplies inside were destroyed. Four other hangars received moderate damage. Debris from the airport was found up to 2 miles away. A nearby feed mill and warehouse at the local farmers co-op was a complete loss. Highway 46 South was closed for several hours due to debris in the roadway. Dozens of trees in the damage…

2. Jun 11, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees down, some on houses and vehicles, in a wide swath across the county. One tree fell through a trailer in Balsam Lake. Pole barn collapsed on western edge of Balsam Lake. Tree fell through apartment building in Balsam Lake. Building under construction in Centuria was taken down.

3. Jul 19, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large swath of damage occurred from the northwestern edge of Pipe Lake on 220th Avenue, south and east along Pipe Lake, then southeast to the southeast side of Long Lake. The winds caused damage to boat lifts, boat docks, and buildings near Pipe Lake and around Johnstown Township. At least 100 large trees were downed, with some falling on homes, vehicles, and outbuildings. This wind damage was associated with the rear flank downdraft portion of a tornadic thunderstorm.

4. May 16, 2017Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a swath of very large hail, up to baseball size, that fell from southwest of Amery, northeast to Clayton. Numerous photos from social media provided how large the hail became.

5. Sep 1, 2002Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   More than five inches of rain fell within a few hours, causing Osceola Creek to rise. Approximately 75 feet of the Upper Millpond Dam was breached, and a significantly greater flow of water headed toward State Highway 35. It overtopped the highway and flooded Falls Trailer Park, where 12 mobile homes had to be evacuated. One mobile home was permanently damaged and a cabin was destroyed. Most damage was to roads and other infrastructure.

6. Jun 11, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were multiple reports of downed trees, power lines and vehicles blown off the road across portions of southern and central Polk County. This includes the towns of Osceola, Amery, Alden, Farmington, St. Croix Falls, Garfield, Clam Falls, Johnstown, Lincoln and Milltown.

7. Jul 12, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down east of St. Croix Falls, to Balsam Lake. A home was also blown off its foundation, and a wall from a Menards store was blown down.

8. Jul 21, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sporadic tree damage occurred across the county. However, the most concentrated area was at Clear Lake County Park, where a local microburst caused considerable damage. Numerous trees were blown down in the park and campground, which is northwest of the town of Clear Lake. The park had to close temporarily due to widespread damage.

9. Aug 7, 2010Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service Storm Damage Survey determined that an EF-0 touched down two miles west of Bone Lake, to about one mile south of Bone Lake, Wisconsin. Damage was extensive to hundreds of large trees that included several two foot diameter Pine Trees. Structural damage included shingles blown off a home, car and home windows blown out, and a wooden trailer tossed into a tree.

10. Jul 27, 2010Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado traveled east-southeast, just north of the village of Turtle Lake. It touched down in extreme eastern Polk County and moved into Barron County. In Polk County, a large outbuilding was completely destroyed 1.5 miles north-northwest of Turtle Lake, with debris scattered downstream for hundreds of yards. Scattered large trees were snapped or uprooted.

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 31, 1988

All-time low

−43°F2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1996

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1988

Coldest day

−15°F2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1996

Wettest day

5.75 inSep 1, 1957

Snowiest day

22.0 inNov 1, 1991

Hottest year

1998mean 49.2°F

Coldest year

1996mean 39.6°F

Wettest year

199146.51 in

Driest year

198718.53 in

Snowiest season

90.3 in2022-23

Station St. Croix Falls (USC00477464), 750 ft elevation, 8.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1950 to October 22, 2026; 96.0% 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 USC00477464.
• 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.