Overview
- An EF5 tornado struck Barneveld in the overnight hours of June 8, 1984, destroying about 90% of the village and killing nine people while injuring roughly 200.
- Official assessments from the National Weather Service and the Wisconsin State Climatology Office estimate peak winds above 300 mph, a roughly 36-mile track, a maximum width near 450 yards, and about 59 minutes on the ground.
- The storm demolished 93 homes, damaged 64 more, razed 17 of 18 village businesses and public buildings, and caused roughly $40 million in damage with about $25 million of that concentrated in Barneveld.
- A tornado watch was in effect before the storm but no tornado warning was issued for Barneveld, and archived survivor accounts say the disaster changed local habits about heeding warnings and preparing for storms.
- The tornado was the strongest in a broader eight-state Midwestern outbreak, remains one of Wisconsin’s costliest twisters, and continues to shape local emergency planning and memory.