NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Beardstown, IL
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Beardstown, Illinois since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 104 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 104
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
4 deaths in all
What the records show for Beardstown
The highest rating among the 104 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on April 4, 2023, came within 23 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on May 24, 2004, killed 1 person. Of the 104, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 46 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 24. The most recent tornado was on June 18, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 74% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Beardstown. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 38 times since 1972, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 548 Illinois cities, 91% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Beardstown.
Compare Beardstown's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Beardstown
By decade
- 2020s23(1 EF3+)
- 2010s14
- 2000s9
- 1990s28
- 1980s7(1 EF3+)
- 1970s6
- 1960s8(2 EF3+)
- 1950s9
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 1981 | F3 | 14 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 13 mi | 5.1 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Apr 4, 2023 | EF3 | 23 mi | 19.92 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 14, 1961 | F3 | 22 mi | 127.1 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jun 18, 2025 | EF2 | 17 mi | 6.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 10, 2021 | EF2 | 12 mi | 12.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 2004 | F2 | 21 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 10, 2003 | F2 | 13 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 2003 | F2 | 15 mi | 30.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 7, 1998 | F2 | 10 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | F2 | 22 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | F2 | 20 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 104, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Beardstown
The Storm Prediction Center has 38 hail reports within 10 miles of Beardstown since 1972, made on 35 separate days. Of these, 25 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 10, 2018. The most recent report is from July 14, 2023. May has the most reports, 10.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Beardstown
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Rushville, IL, 11 miles northwest of Beardstown at 673 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 17°F. May is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 40.9 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 21 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 121 nights a year. That 40.9 inches is more than at 92 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (63%). Virginia, 12 miles east, has its own station (Jacksonville 2E, IL): 39.3 inches a year, 1.6 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 17 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Feb | 38 | 21 | 2.1 | 4 |
| Mar | 50 | 31 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Apr | 62 | 42 | 3.9 | 7 |
| May | 72 | 52 | 5.3 | 8 |
| Jun | 81 | 62 | 5.0 | 7 |
| Jul | 85 | 65 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Aug | 83 | 63 | 3.8 | 5 |
| Sep | 77 | 55 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Oct | 65 | 44 | 3.4 | 5 |
| Nov | 50 | 33 | 2.7 | 5 |
| Dec | 39 | 23 | 2.4 | 4 |
| Year | 61 | 42 | 40.9 | 66 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Rushville, IL (673 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Beardstown
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 73 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Beardstown: 54 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods and 7 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $11.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 22, 2010. July has had the most flash floods, 4 of 12. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 179 have had fewer than Beardstown.
August 12, 1999: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Beardstown — $7.0 million damage.
NWS: “As a line of severe thunderstorms moved into Cass County, several miles stretch of US Route 67 was closed due to 40 power poles being blown down. Also, ten homes sustained minor damage from the storms.”
June 22, 2010: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Beardstown — $3.5 million damage.
NWS: “Numerous large trees were uprooted, and many large tree branches and power lines were downed. Thirty nine structures sustained damage and most needed repairs to be returned to a habitable state.”
July 28, 2010: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Beardstown — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Slow moving thunderstorms produced copious amounts of rainfall in western Cass County late in the evening of July 28th. 00 were measured in 90 minutes which produced nearly two feet of water on many roads.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Beardstown's ZIP code 62618 have filed 100 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $525,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1985: 17 claims (17% of all) and $112,000. The year with the most claims was 1982, with 25. 19% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 320 Illinois cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 216 have fewer than Beardstown.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1985 | 17 | $112,000 |
Cass County, which includes Beardstown, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cass County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes, inland flooding and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $12.2 million a year, the 68th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.3 million (27%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Beardstown
- Rushville, IL11 mi
- Virginia, IL12 mi
- Mt Sterling, IL17 mi
- Jacksonville, IL22 mi
- Winchester, IL26 mi
- Havana, IL28 mi
- Petersburg, IL30 mi
- Lewistown, IL31 mi
- Pleasant Plains, IL31 mi
- Pittsfield, IL34 mi
- Macomb, IL34 mi
- New Berlin, IL34 mi
All Illinois cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Beardstown with another place →