Eau Claire County, Wisconsin

What hazards hit Eau Claire County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 137 since 1959. 69% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1959 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Wisconsin's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Eau Claire County had?

NOAA records 24 tornadoes in Eau Claire County from 1953 to 2025, the strongest rated F4, with 6 deaths and 20 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 27 tornadoes whose track touched Eau Claire County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 24: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 10 people, 6 of them in Eau Claire County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Wisconsin.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Eau Claire County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 20, 2019 thunderstorm wind (1 injury).

A large tree was uprooted and landed on a camper. An individual inside the camper was injured.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 846976)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Eau Claire County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

69% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1959 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Eau Claire County

FEMA's register lists 9 declarations that include Eau Claire County: 6 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (3) and biological (2).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Eau Claire County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 20 flood or flash flood records for Eau Claire County from 1997 to 2026, on 19 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Eau Claire County ranks 1596th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $504,000 on 58 claims filed in Eau Claire County; the most in one year was 19 in 1993. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Eau Claire County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Eau Claire County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $47.9 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Eau Claire County

1. Trempealeau County 749
2. Clark County 652
3. Chippewa County 581
4. Jackson County 568
5. Buffalo County 511
6. Dunn County 504
7. Eau Claire County 450
8. Pepin County 260

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in WisconsinEvery Wisconsin tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in WisconsinThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Wisconsin recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Eau Claire CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Eau Claire County's FEMA declarations (CSV)9 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis