Adams County, Wisconsin: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Adams County, Wisconsin has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 70.9 out of 100, higher than about 70% of US counties, with hail, cold waves and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $20 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 10 federal disaster declarations that included Adams County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4402-WI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides, declared 18 October 2018). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 25 tornadoes touching Adams County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 20,645 Buildings worth $8.6 billion Area 694 sq mi Risk rank in Wisconsin 23 of 72 FIPS 55001
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 92.6 | $1.4 million | about 3.2 a year | 122 |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 90.4 | $5.0 million | about 6.8 a year | 129 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 76.3 | $773,249 | about 3.1 a year | 118 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 73.4 | $1.9 million | about once every 2.5 years | 19 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 72.5 | $9.6 million | about once every 1.9 years | 15 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 72.4 | $678,436 | about 3 a year | 44 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 53.1 | $37,322 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Landslide | Very Low | 50.4 | $910 | about once every 9.8 years | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 45.6 | $46,507 | about once every 8.4 years | 8 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 44.6 | $35,970 | about 16 a year | 307 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 40.6 | $47,263 | about 2.9 a year | 112 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 32.5 | $79,746 | about 34 a year | 61,983 strikes |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 21.2 | $20,979 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 9.5 | $1,142 | about once every 174 years | 2 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 10
Most common: Severe Storm 5, Flood 3, Hurricane 1, Drought 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Drought |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 6 | Severe Storm ×4, Hurricane, Flood |
| 2010s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Adams County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3249-WI): 72 Wisconsin counties designated.
- Drought (1976, EM-3014-WI): 66 Wisconsin counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding (1993, DR-994-WI): 47 Wisconsin counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Wisconsin also had 1 statewide declaration with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 25
| Tornadoes touching the county | 25 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (8) |
| Deadliest | 27 Aug 1994, F3, 10.5 mi path, 2 killed, 22 injured |
| Longest path | 8 May 1964, F2, 23.5 mi path |
| Most recent | 10 Apr 2011, EF2, 17.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 2 / 40 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Adams County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 70.9 | Hail |
| Juneau County | 28 km | Relatively Low | 70.8 | Heat wave |
| Marquette County | 34 km | Relatively Low | 47.6 | Hail |
| Waushara County | 45 km | Relatively Low | 43.3 | Hail |
| Wood County | 58 km | Relatively Low | 75.9 | Cold wave |
| Portage County | 60 km | Relatively Low | 62.7 | Cold wave |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Wisconsin, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 86.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 21.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.56 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $20 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Adams County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Wisconsin · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hail: Weather alerts for Wisconsin
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. 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).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Adams County
What natural disasters is Adams County, Wisconsin most at risk from?
Adams County, Wisconsin has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 70.9 out of 100, higher than about 70% of US counties, with hail, cold waves and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $20 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Adams County had?
OpenFEMA lists 10 federal disaster declarations that included Adams County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4402-WI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides, declared 18 October 2018). Another 1 Wisconsin declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Adams County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 25 tornadoes touching Adams County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 27 Aug 1994, F3, 10.5 mi path, 2 killed, 22 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.