Taylor County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 2, 2002Tornado$3.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down about a mile northwest of Gilman (Taylor County) and moved southeast into the village a couple minutes later. A few trees and homes were lightly damaged before the tornado hit the Gilman school. The roof was blown off the school gymnasium, where the high school football team had been seeking cover a minute before moving into the hallways and interior rooms. Debris was blown from the school onto the nearby football field and into homes east of Gilman. The tornado kept tracking southeast into the Chequamegon National Forest, producing occasional house damage and knocking down hundreds of trees. The path of the storm crossed Trucker Lane, Winter Sports Road and…

2. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms produced straight-line winds up to 90 mph. Several barns and homes were damaged or destroyed along Highway 73, Highway 64 and County Road F. Wide swaths of trees were also knocked down and a barn was damaged in the Rib Lake area.

3. Nov 15, 1996Ice Storm, Taylor$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large branches coated with ice fell on power lines, disrupting electrical service to 1,500 people for three days.

4. May 18, 2024Hail$137,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported 2 inch diameter hail in the town of Chelsea. The report was relayed via Facebook.

5. Sep 23, 2010Flood$112,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters caused several road closures around the county. Specific roads impacted were County Road C north of Goodrich as well as Oriole Drive just east of Stetsonville. In Medford, the Black River came within a few feet of the Curling Club, while the Rib River in Goodrich was within a few inches of the bottom of the bridge on State Highway 64. Due to road closures, the Medford school was closed on the 24th. The rain began the evening of the 22nd and continued until the early morning hours of the 24th, with the majority falling by mid afternoon on the 23rd. Rainfall totals across the county amounted to 4.58 inches at Gad, 3.40 inches at Medford, and 3.27 inches at Jump River.

6. Jun 17, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$105,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported several instances of trees and power lines down across central and southern portions of Taylor County.

7. Jun 22, 2002Flash Flood$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Repeated thunderstorms with heavy rain caused flash flooding over parts of central Wisconsin. Hardest hit was the northeast part of Adams County where Doppler radar estimated total amounts of 15 inches. Cooperative weather observers reported 5 inches of rain at Big Flats, 7 inches in Leola and 10 to 12 inches in areas just north and east of Leola. Numerous roads were closed or badly eroded, with many bridges washed out. Area lakes were full, while levees and dikes nearly breached. Many basements and septic fields flooded out. In northeast Clark County, numerous roads were damaged and closed. Both Adams and Clark County received federal disaster assistance due to the flooding,…

8. Sep 2, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down about a mile northwest of Gilman (Taylor County) and moved southeast into the village a couple minutes later. A few trees and homes were lightly damaged before the tornado hit the Gilman school. The roof was blown off the school gymnasium, where the high school football team had been seeking cover a minute before moving into the hallways and interior rooms. Debris was blown from the school onto the nearby football field and into homes east of Gilman. The tornado kept tracking southeast into the Chequamegon National Forest, producing occasional house damage and knocking down hundreds of trees. The path of the storm crossed Trucker Lane, Winter Sports Road and…

9. Dec 15, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The roofs to a workshop and a house were blown off and trees were uprooted in Whittlesey.

10. Sep 6, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The emergency manager reported a building was completely demolished by straight-line winds estimated at 60 to 65 mph. Several trees were also blown down.

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

104°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−45°FFeb 10, 1899

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jun 5, 1934

Coldest day

−20°FJan 17, 1982

Wettest day

8.00 inJun 5, 1905

Snowiest day

24.0 inDec 28, 1904

Hottest year

1931mean 46.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 37.0°F

Wettest year

201948.22 in

Driest year

197619.27 in

Snowiest season

104.9 in2013-14

Station Medford (USC00475255), 1,470 ft elevation, 4.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to December 11, 2025; 88.7% 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 USC00475255.
• 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.