Sawyer County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Sawyer 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. Apr 12, 2023Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Warm temperatures early in April led to rapid snowmelt of a well above normal snowpack across the region. Additionally, heavy rainfall on top of the snowpack led to additional high runoff across the county as well. Roads began to be impacted on the 12th with water overtopping low spots leading to washouts and failed culverts. Temperatures cooled during the middle of the month along with a heavy snow event the 16th into the 17th. This allowed the runoff to slow and water levels to drop. However, water levels rose again later in the month as this new snow melted as well. Numerous road closures were reported across the entire county due to failed culverts, washouts and gravel roads…

2. May 25, 2008Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A house fire was caused by a lightning strike. The house was totalled.

3. Mar 1, 2022Ice Storm, Sawyer$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accumulations of a quarter of an inch were reported in a time period of around six to eight hours in the Hayward area at the beginning of the storm. Jump River Electrical Cooperative reported approximately 500 customers without power during the height of the storm due to downed lines from the ice and trees/branches falling onto lines.

4. Jul 14, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A roof of a home and a garage were destroyed. Many trees were blown down in Lenroot and Hayward Townships.

5. Jun 12, 2006Wildfire, Sawyer$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Smoldering forest dry matter that was sparked by a lightning strike a week earlier flared into a major fire on the east bay of Big Spider Lake. The fire destroyed a boathouse, two sailboats and two trolling motors. An uninhabited cabin was heavily damaged.

6. Apr 14, 2002Flood, Sawyer$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dense snowpack, temperatures in the 80s, and 3 inches of rain contributed to widespread flooding in parts of Sawyer County. Moose Lake, a flowage of the Chippewa River, was at its highest level since 1941. Many boathouses and cabins on Moose Lake were flooded. Although numerous roads were covered with water, damage was minimal.

7. Apr 17, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hayward Laundry on Dakota Ave had its roof torn off by the wind.

8. Aug 2, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A photo was received showing a medium-size pine tree that had been snapped and fell on a house.

9. Jul 2, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were snapped along Sawmill Road on the northeast side of Hayward Lake. At least one of the trees was larger than two feet in diameter per photos. One of the trees fell onto a home causing damage.

10. Aug 26, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Sawyer County dispatch reported multiple downed power lines on the east side of Sand Lake along County Highway F.

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°F2 times, most recently Jul 13, 1936

All-time low

−52°FFeb 16, 1936

Warmest night

88°FSep 11, 2005

Coldest day

−20°FJan 5, 1912

Wettest day

5.50 inJul 1, 1958

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 14, 1917

Hottest year

2024mean 48.5°F

Coldest year

1907mean 37.1°F

Wettest year

195444.65 in

Driest year

197615.92 in

Snowiest season

106.2 in1982-83

Station Hayward Rs (USC00473511), 1,200 ft elevation, 8.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 22, 2026; 95.2% 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 USC00473511.
• 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.