La Crosse, WI

Weather Forecast Office

Event Summaries

Thunderstorms / Tornadoes
Flooding
Winter
Heat / Cold
Other

Thunderstorms & Tornadoes

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread thunderstorm outbreaks and tornadoes. Tornadoes, hail, wind damage, and flooding impacts can be found in these summaries. If the event was focused mainly on flooding it will be found under the "Flooding" section.

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2026

June 17: 2 Tornadoes in Northeast IA and Southwest WI
April 17: Tornado Outbreak
April 14: Severe Storms, Tornado near Union Center, WI
April 13: Severe Storms, Tornado near Gilman, WI

2025

July 28-29: Overnight severe wind
June 25: A number of weak tornadoes across SE MN and SW WI.
May 15: Several Tornadoes in Clark County

2024

August 5, 2024: Several Weak Tornadoes in SE MN and NE IA
July 13-14: Severe Storms & Flooding
June 21-22: Severe Storms / Flooding & Tornado
May 21: Severe Storms & Tornadoes

2023

August 11: Wind, Some Hail in WI
July 28: Hail and Wind Damage
March 31: Hail and Wind (and Snow!)

2022

July 23: Tornadoes, Wind Damage
June 15: Tornadoes, Wind Damage
May 19: Large hail, tornado, heavy rain
April 12: Tornadoes, hail, locally heavy rain

2021

December 15: Historic Tornado Outbreak & High Wind
September 20: EF0 / EF1 Tornadoes, Wind damage
August 27: EF0 / EF1 Tornadoes Floyd County, IA & Northeast IA flooding
August 11: EF0 / EF1 Tornadoes Monroe County, WI
August 71: EF3 Tornado (Boscobel, WI) and Heavy Rain / Flooding
July 141: Northeast Iowa Tornadoes (Floyd / Fayette Co.)
June 17: Very Large Hail and Heavy Rain

2020

July 19, 2020: Tornado and damaging wind in western WI
June 28, 2020: SE Minnesota brief tornadoes
June 2, 2020: Large hail and damaging wind
March 28, 2020: 3 tornadoes and hail

2019

September 24, 2019: 2 tornadoes and damaging winds
September 12, 2019: 2 tornadoes, damaging winds, flash flooding
July 19-20, 2019: 3 rounds - damaging winds, flash flooding, tornadoes
July 18-19, 2019: Flash flooding, tornado SE MN and western WI
June 4, 2019: Brief Tornado - SW Rochester
May 27, 2019: Memorial Day tornadoes in NE IA, SE MN

2018

Sept.4, 2018: Tornado & flooding
June 9, 2018: Hail, damaging wind, flooding
May 25, 2018: Hail, damaging wind
May 9, 2018: brief tornado in southwest Wisconsin

2017

July 19-20, 2017: damaging winds, tornado, & flooding
June 28, 2017: damaging winds, flooding, weak/brief tornadoes
May 17, 2017: damaging winds, small tornadoes
May 15-16, 2017: damaging winds, hail
April 9, 2017: Large hail
March 6, 2017: Damaging winds, hail

2016

August 18, 2016: Damaging winds southeast Minnesota
August 4, 2016: Damaging winds western WI, Decorah IA
July 5, 2016: Damaging Winds and Tornadoes
June 25-26, 2016: Wind Damage and Moderate Rainfall

2015

July 13, 2015: Afternoon Hail-Wind Damage
July 12-13, 2015: Overnight Storms
June 22, 2015 Damaging Winds, Tornadoes, Heavy Rain/Flooding

2014

July 7, 2014 Damaging Winds - Hail
June 29, 2014 Fennimore, WI Tornado - Large Hail, Flooding
June 16, 2014 Severe Weather - Platteville Tornado

2013

July 22, 2013 Severe Weather - Refuge tornado
May 30, 2013 Damaging wind
May 19, 2013 Damaging wind/flooding

2012

Sep 4-5, 2012 Large hail/Bloomington, WI Tornado

2011

August 23, 2011 Chili, WI tornado
July 1-2, 2011wind damage
May 22, 2011 tornado outbreak
April 10, 2011 large hail and tornadoes over WI

2010

October 26-27, 2010 wind event
August 13, 2010 wind,flooding, & Hayfield, MN tornado
July 22-24, 2010 heavy rains & storm damage
July 14, 2010 tornado / severe weather
June 26-27, 2010 squall line/wind damage event
June 17, 2010 wind & tornado damage

2009

August 19, 2009 tornadoes
June 17, 2009 Austin, MN tornado

2008

October 26, 2008 wind event
June 12, 2008 southwest WI flooding/storm damage
June 7, 2008 tornadoes

2007

2006

August 23-25, 2006 severe weather outbreak.

2005

August 18, 2005 tornadoes in southwest WI.
June 4, 2005 tornadoes in northcentral WI.
March 30, 2005 small tornadoes in northeast IA.

2004

June 23, 2004 tornadoes over western WI.
June 11, 2004 tornadoes over northeast IA and southeast MN.

2003

July 7, 2003 tornado near New Hampton, IA.

2002

September 30, 2002 tornado in Chelsea, WI (Taylor County).
September 2, 2002 tornado in Gilman WI (Taylor County).
June 25, 2002 tornado in Abbotsford WI.
May 8th, 2002 Northeast Iowa Supercell.

2001

September 7th, 2001 Monroe County (Lafayette) WI tornado.
May 1st, 2001 Glenville/Austin MN tornado.
April 11th, 2001 West Union tornado.

2000

July 9th 2000 Norwalk tornado.

1999

July 20-21, 1999 Charles City Flooding and Nashua tornado
July 8, 1999 Lewiston MN tornado
Some pictures from the May 16-17, 1999 northeast Iowa flooding
June 27, 1999 damaging winds

1998

The Nashua, IA storm survey, June 18th, 1998.

Historic

The Charles City, IA Tornado of May 15, 1968
The Tornado Outbreak of May 10, 1953.
The Rochester, MN Tornado of August 21, 1883.
The Tornadoes of June 28, 1865.

Flooding

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread flooding. River and flash flooding can be found in these summaries. If the flooding event accompanied severe thunderstorms or tornado outbreaks, it will likely be included in that event's summary under the "Thunderstorms / Tornadoes" section.

2026

January 8-9 2026: Record January Rains, River Rises

2025

August 15-19, 2025: Heavy Rains & Flooding

2024

Mississippi River Summer Flood of 2024: Heavy Rain / River Flooding
June 21-22, 2024: Heavy Rain / River Flooding

2023

Mississippi River Spring Flood of 2023

2021

August 25-28, 2021: Heavy Rain / Flooding NE Iowa/W Wisconsin

2020

August 27-28, 2020: Heavy Rain and flooding in western/central Wisconsin
June 9, 2020: Heavy Rain - Tropical Depression Cristobal

2019

July 19-20, 2019: 3 rounds - damaging winds, flash flooding, tornadoes
July 18-19, 2019: Flash flooding, tornado SE MN and western WI
June 27-28, 2019: Southeast Minnesota Flash Flooding

2018

September 3-5, 2018: Significant Flooding/Heavy Rain
August 27-28 2018: Significant Flooding In Western WI
June 9, 2018: Heavy rain - flooding

2017

July 21, 2017: Northeast IA and southwest WI flooding
July 19-20 2017: Overnight WI flooding
July 11 2017: Flooding in Clayton and Grant counties

2016

September 20-22, 2016: Widespread Heavy Rain & Flooding
September 9, 2016: Heavy Rain & Flooding Northeast IA, southwest WI
September 6-7, 2016: Flooding & Tornado in Northeast IA, southwest WI
August 23-25, 2016: Record Flooding in Northeast Iowa
August 11, 2016: Heavy Rain and Flooding West Central WI
July 23, 2016: Heavy Rain and Flooding in Northeast IA, southwest WI
June 14, 2016: Heavy Rain and Flooding in Northeast, Iowa

2015

Dec.13-14, 2015: Heavy Rain - Flooding
Sep 6-7, 2015: Heavy Rain - Flooding Western WI

2013

October 4-5, 2013 Heavy Rainfall
June 21-26, 2013 Flooding/Rainfall

2010

September 22-23, 2010 flooding southeast MN, western WI

2008

Record river flooding of June 2008
June 7-8, 2008 historic flooding over northeast IA southwest WI

2007

August 18-20, 2007 flooding over southeast MN and southwest WI.
July 17-18, 2007 flooding over extreme northeast IA and southwest WI.

2006

April 16, 2006 heavy rain event in northeast IA and southwest WI.

2004

September 14-15, 2004 flooding in Austin, MN.
May 21-23, 2004 flooding over northeast IA and southwest WI.
May 8, 2004 flash flooding over northeast IA and southwest WI.

2002

June 21-22, 2002 flash flooding in Central WI.
June 3-4, 2002 flash flooding in Cassville, WI.

2001

The Mississippi River Spring Flood of April and May 2001.
More on the Mississippi River Flood of 2001.

1999

Some pictures from the May 16-17, 1999 northeast Iowa flooding

Other Historic Floods

A look back at historical floods across the local area.
The spring Mississippi River flood of 1997.
A look back at the 1993 flooding.
The flooding of 1978.
Mississippi River Flood of 1965

Winter Storms

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread winter storms. Heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain, and blizzards can be found in these summaries. If the event focused on wind chills, it will be found under the "Heat / Cold" section.

Scroll down the page for year, or go directly:

2026

April 2, 2026: Freezing rain
March 14-16: Major winter storm
February 28: Narrow Band of Heavy Snow Across Area
February 19 - 20: Narrow Band of Heavy Snow in northeast IA & southwest WI

2025

December 28 - 29: Winter storm and blizzard conditions
November 28 - 30: Winter storm
March 19: Heavy snow band, blizzard conditions
March 5: Blizzard conditions west of the Mississippi River
February 8: Narrow band of 6-12" of snow over central WI

2024

December 19: Heavy Snow
April 2: Snow & Strong Wind
March 24: Heavy Snow North of I-90
January 12: Snow & Wind, Western WI
January 9: Heavy, wet snow northeast IA, southwest WI

2023

April 16-17: Late Winter Heavy Snow
March 31: Snow and Wind (and Hail!)
March 9 -10: Heavy Snow
February 23: Heavy Snow & Ice
January 28: Snowfall
January 18-19: Heavy snow
January 2-5 - Freezing Rain and Ice, Snow

2022

December 22-25 - Extreme Cold, Wind/Blizzard, Snow

2021

2020

April 12 - Easter Snow Storm
February 9: Band of Heavy Snow

2019

April 10-11, 2019: late winter storm
February 23-24 2019 Blizzard / Winter Storm
February 11-12 2019 Winter Storm
February 6-7 2019 Winter Storm
January 29-31 2019 Dangerous Cold Spell
January 27-28 2019 Snow Storm
January 22-23 2019 Winter Storm
January 18 2019 Narrow Heavy Snow Band

2018

December 1-2, 2018 Winter Storm
April 18, 2018 Heavy Snow
April 14, 2018 Late Season Winter Storm
April 3, 2018 Winter Storm
March 23-24, 2018 Heavy Snow
March 5, 2018 Winter Storm
Feb.19-20, 2018 Freezing Rain & Ice
Feb 8-9 , 2018 Snow
Jan.11, 2018 Rain, Snow, and Wind Chills
Jan.14, 2018 Snowfall
Jan.22-23, 2018 Winter Storm & Flooding

2017

Feb 24, 2017: heavy snow, wintry mix, storms
Jan.24-25, 2017 Heavy Snow Storm

2016

Dec.10-11, 2016 - Heavy snowfall
March 23-24, 2016 Winter Storm: heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain
Feb 2, 2016 Groundhog's Day winter storm

2015

Dec 28, 2015,: Winter storm
Nov.19-20, 2015 - Heavy snowfall
Mar 22-23, 2015 spring snow storm
Jan 31-Feb 1, 2015 winter storm
Jan 8, 2015 blizzard
Jan 3-10, 2015 harsh week of winter

2014

Mar 4-5, 2014 narrow snowband
Feb 20-21, 2014 blizzard/winter storm
January 25-28, 2014 winter storm/cold
January 18, 2014 snow
January 14, 2014 winter storm/cold
January 5-7, 2014 arctic cold spell

2013

Dec 21-22, 2013
May 2, 2013 record snow storm
January 27th, 2013 (ice)

2012

2011

April 19, 2011
February 1-2, 2011
Jan 31-Feb 1, 2011

2010

December 23-24, 2010
December 20-21, 2010
December 10-12, 2010 (blizzard)
December 3-4, 2010
February 7th-9th, 2010

2009

October 21st-24th, 2009 (rain/snow)
January 3rd-4th, 2009 (icing)

2008

2007

2006

November 10th, 2006
March 16th, 2006
March 13th, 2006
March 5th, 2006
February 16th, 2006
January 20th, 2006

2005

2004

2003

December 9-10th, 2003
April 7th, 2003
April 4th, 2003
March 8th, 2003
March 4th, 2003
February 2nd-3rd, 2003

2002

2001

2000

Historic

The Spring Snow Storm of March 13-14, 1997.
The Snow Storm of January 26-27, 1996.
The Halloween Blizzard/Ice Storm of 1991.
The Snow Storm of December 2-4, 1990.
The Late Spring Snow Storm of May 27-29, 1947.
The Early season snow storm of September 24-26, 1942
The Armistice Day storm of November 11, 1940.
The Ice Storm of February 21-23, 1922.

Extreme Heat & Cold

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread high heat or extreme cold. Dangerous wind chills and life threatening heat indices can be found in these summaries. If the extreme temperatures were associated with a summer or winter storm, it may be found under the "Thunderstorms & Tornadoes" or "Winter" sections.

January 29-31 2019 Dangerous Cold Spell
The July 2-6, 2012 Heatwave
The March 2012 Record Warmth
The July 18-22, 2011 Heatwave
The Arctic Outbreak of February 1-4, 1996.
The Heatwave of July 1995.
The Heatwave of July 1936.
The Great Blue Norther of 1911 (November 11)
The Record Cold of February 1899.

Other Events

The following summaries cover events that don't fall under the other categories - such as high wind events (not associated with thunderstorms). Other atmospheric events, such as auroras, may be found here.

The Wind Storm of October 1949.
June 9, 2020: Heavy Rain - Tropical Depression Cristobal
November 2020 Record Warm Temperatures

Severe Storms Possible on Monday

Event Summaries