PlainHazard

Wisconsin drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 63 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,433 drought records in Wisconsin from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 82 a year since 2000. The costliest was the August 1, 2002 drought ($5.9 million in 2025 dollars). Wisconsin ranks 20th of 51 states and territories by count and 28th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Wisconsin, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
1,4331996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
82average
Deaths
01 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$8.9Mas filed
Busiest year
2009207 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin averages about 82 drought records a year since 2000, 20th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2009 (207). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Wisconsin records 265 drought records since 1996, 28th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 28. Wisconsin 265

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Wisconsin have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Ozaukee County leads Wisconsin: 17 days with a drought record since 1996, 73.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Marinette County has the most drought records (59 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Ozaukee County 73.0 (17)
  2. Milwaukee County 70.4 (17)
  3. Florence County 65.6 (32)
  4. Iron County 64.6 (49)
  5. Menominee County 64.3 (23)
  6. Kenosha County 62.5 (17)
  7. Racine County 54.1 (18)
  8. Vilas County 53.6 (46)
  9. Washburn County 51.4 (41)
  10. Lincoln County 48.9 (43)
  11. Green Lake County 48.6 (17)
  12. Burnett County 47.5 (39)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin's drought records by month. The busiest month is October (202 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 82 · Feb 71 · Mar 80 · Apr 51 · May 39 · Jun 68 · Jul 174 · Aug 195 · Sep 198 · Oct 202 · Nov 165 · Dec 108 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Wisconsin

Wisconsin: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2002-08-01 DroughtRock County · forecast zone Rock One storm episode: 11 records in 11 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $5.9M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Wisconsin and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeWisconsinUnited StatesWisconsin's share
1996-99225,6000.4%
2000s67118,5713.6%
2010s36031,4411.1%
2020-2638030,1471.3%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Wisconsin

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-03-01 DroughtWashburn County · forecast zone Washburn 0 0 –
2026-03-01 DroughtBurnett County · forecast zone Burnett 0 0 –
2026-03-01 DroughtDouglas County · forecast zone Douglas 0 0 –
2026-02-01 DroughtMarinette County · forecast zone Northern Marinette 0 0 –
2026-02-01 DroughtFlorence County · forecast zone Florence 0 0 –
2026-02-01 DroughtWashburn County · forecast zone Washburn 0 0 –
2026-02-01 DroughtBurnett County · forecast zone Burnett 0 0 –
2026-02-01 DroughtDouglas County · forecast zone Douglas 0 0 –
2026-01-01 DroughtWashburn County · forecast zone Washburn 0 0 –
2026-01-01 DroughtBurnett County · forecast zone Burnett 0 0 –
2026-01-01 DroughtDouglas County · forecast zone Douglas 0 0 –
2026-01-01 DroughtShawano County · forecast zone Shawano 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Wisconsin

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Wisconsin for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on June 17, 1976.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1976-06-17EM-3014Drought66

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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