Forest County, Wisconsin: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Forest County, Wisconsin has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 47.4 out of 100, higher than about 47% of US counties, with cold waves, hail and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 6 federal disaster declarations that included Forest County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4949-WI (Severe Storms and Tornadoes, declared 7 October 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Forest County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 9,147 Buildings worth $3.4 billion Area 1,057 sq mi Risk rank in Wisconsin 53 of 72 FIPS 55041
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 95.1 | $9.1 million | about 9.1 a year | 172 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 45.7 | $173,120 | about 1.5 a year | 55 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 40.6 | $128,230 | about 28 a year | 44,645 strikes |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 39.4 | $34,915 | about 17 a year | 327 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 22.0 | $220,159 | about once every 4.7 years | 7 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 20.7 | $2.0 million | about once every 7.0 years | 4 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 18.8 | $129,926 | about 1.6 a year | 60 |
| Drought | Very Low | 17.6 | $1,698 | about 1.4 a year | 35 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 13.9 | $42 | about once every 3.7 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 13.4 | $3,540 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 7.5 | $8,789 | about once every 3.2 years | 6 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 2.1 | $653 | about once every 67 years | 1 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 1.6 | $1,283 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | No Rating | 0.0 | — | 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 6
Most common: Severe Storm 2, Tornado 1, Flood 1, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Severe Storm, Drought |
| 2000s | 2 | Hurricane, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 1 | Flood |
| 2020s | 1 | Tornado |
The last 6
Widest declarations that included Forest County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3249-WI): 72 Wisconsin counties designated.
- Drought (1976, EM-3014-WI): 66 Wisconsin counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2000, DR-1332-WI): 30 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 5
| Tornadoes touching the county | 5 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×3 |
| Peak month | April (2) |
| Deadliest | 30 May 1994, F2, 12 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Longest path | 30 May 1994, F2, 12 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Most recent | 10 Apr 2011, EF2, 12 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 3 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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 Forest County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 47.4 | Cold wave |
| Florence County | 35 km | Relatively Low | 54.2 | Cold wave |
| Langlade County | 51 km | Relatively Low | 49.6 | Cold wave |
| Oneida County | 59 km | Relatively Low | 62.5 | Cold wave |
| Iron County, MI | 63 km | Relatively Low | 55.1 | Cold wave |
| Marinette County | 65 km | Relatively Low | 80.0 | Cold wave |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Wisconsin, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 71.9 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 53.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.33 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $12 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 Forest County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Wisconsin · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Hail: Weather alerts for Wisconsin
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Wisconsin
- 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 Forest County
What natural disasters is Forest County, Wisconsin most at risk from?
Forest County, Wisconsin has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 47.4 out of 100, higher than about 47% of US counties, with cold waves, hail and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Forest County had?
OpenFEMA lists 6 federal disaster declarations that included Forest County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4949-WI (Severe Storms and Tornadoes, declared 7 October 2026). Another 1 Wisconsin declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Forest County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Forest County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 30 May 1994, F2, 12 mi path, 0 killed, 3 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.