Vilas County

Every recorded tornado

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

River crests

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 1 gauge here but lists no crests for it.

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. Jul 30, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A mesoscale convective system moved across north-central, central and northeast Wisconsin during the evening of July 30, 1999. Thunderstorm wind gusts over 70 mph (and possibly as high as 100 mph) produced significant damage across the far north-central part of the state. The hardest hit areas were Oneida county and Vilas county, but most of the NWS Green Bay forecast area was affected.In Vilas county, an estimated 100,000 trees were downed by the storm and two people were killed by falling trees in Oneida county. The storm left 50,000 people without electrical service, damaged 150 to 200 homes and blocked all major highways and secondary roads in the northern one-third of Oneida…

2. Jun 5, 1999Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A warm front moved into Wisconsin from the southwest, interacting with very moist and unstable air over the state resulting in severe thunderstorms over north-central Wisconsin. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the area by winds gusting to around 70 mph and there were reports of large hail. Trees were reported down near Rhinelander (Oneida county) and in Winchester (Vilas county). Trees and power lines were down in Three Lakes (Oneida county) and large hail caused damage to a vehicle in that area. Large trees were down along state highway 32 in Hiles (Forest county). A funnel cloud near Little Chicago (Marathon county) was taped by a chase crew from a Wausau…

3. May 25, 2008Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail damaged vehicles and structures near St. Germain. A vehicle dealership on the east side of the city suffered the most extensive damage. Every car on the lot sustained damaged. Every vehicle at a repair shop in town was damaged except for a 1972 Pontiac Lemans. This was likely due to the thicker steel used in the body of the Lemans. One man was unable to get his hand around a hailstone that crashed through the kitchen skylight of his home.

4. Apr 18, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense area of low pressure moved toward Wisconsin from the plains as a warm front lifted north across the state. Severe thunderstorms developed in north-central Wisconsin in the vicinity of the front. These storms produced hail as large as golf balls in Vilas county at Conover and near Sayner. Wind gusts estimated at 75 mph caused considerable damage in Eagle River (Vilas co.) where part of the roof was torn off a high school gymnasium, a wall of a convenience store was damaged and a tree toppled onto a church, puncturing a hole in the roof. A small building was destroyed at a marina 2 miles east of Eagle River. Trees and power lines were downed across much of Vilas county…

5. Jul 21, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed hundreds of trees just southeast of Presque Isle, from Crab Lake to Lynx Lake. Five homes sustained damage from fallen trees.

6. Jul 27, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm, within a line of storms, produced downburst winds southwest of Conover. Winds of 80 to 90 mph, with higher gusts, snapped or uprooted hundreds of trees, some as large as three feet in diameter, along a 5 mile long path. Several homes and cabins were damaged by the fallen trees. The storm moved over a camp where 650 people were located. The camp staff heard the warning and was able to get everyone to safety before the storm hit. There were no injuries from the storm.

7. Apr 3, 1999Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A nearly stationary front across Wisconsin and an upper atmospheric system combined with unstable air, resulting in an area of showers and thunderstorms that moved across the state on the morning of April 3rd. In Boulder Junction, Vilas county, lightning struck a 125 foot pine tree causing its trunk to explode. The lightning created a track several inches deep as it traveled through the ground to an attached garage. When it reached the garage it blew the phone and power line connections off the wall and started the electrical wiring on fire in the garage attic. The phone and electrical wiring in the house were so charged they scorched the walls around them. Natural gas lines…

8. Aug 22, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Powerful downburst winds caused significant damage over an area 1.5 miles wide by 3 miles long on the east side of Eagle River. Numerous trees and power lines were snapped, resulting in power outages to around 4000 electrical customers. Fallen trees caused damage to some buildings and vehicles.

9. Jul 21, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed trees in the Phelps area. One building sustained damage from a fallen tree.

10. Jul 26, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A thunderstorm wind gust downed hundreds of trees and knocked down power lines in St. Germain. At least six homes were damaged by the fallen trees.

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

106°FJul 13, 1936

All-time low

−48°F2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1996

Warmest night

79°F3 times, most recently Aug 19, 1916

Coldest day

−28°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.68 inJul 22, 1909

Snowiest day

17.0 inDec 23, 1959

Hottest year

1998mean 44.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 35.7°F

Wettest year

201745.11 in

Driest year

197616.05 in

Snowiest season

165.3 in1996-97

Station Minocqua (USC00475516), 1,601 ft elevation, 13.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1903 to October 23, 2026; 99.0% 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 USC00475516.
• 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.