Tornado Risk in Brown County, WI
Brown County's tornado history, by the numbers
31 tornado tracks have crossed Brown County since 1957 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 2.5 years - the Elevated band on this site's scale. That is the 71st percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Within Wisconsin alone, Brown County ranks 21 of 72 counties for tornado frequency.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Brown County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 31 recorded tracks, 26 were weak (EF0-1) and 5 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Wisconsin does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a Brown County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
The storm that misses Brown County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Wisconsin are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What Brown County's figure does not tell you
Brown County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Brown County covers about 530 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Brown County has about 273,909 residents.