NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Belleville, 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
4 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Belleville, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 175 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 18 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 4
- Tornadoes
- 175
- EF3 or stronger
- 18
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
52 deaths in all
What the records show for Belleville
None of the 4 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Belleville; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 49 mph winds when its centre passed 11 miles away. The record near Belleville begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 4 systems, one has come since 2000. Belleville has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 79% of the 548 Illinois cities on this site. The highest rating among the 175 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on April 22, 2011, came within 15 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on February 10, 1959, killed 21 people. Of the 175, 17 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 87 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 49. The most recent tornado was on May 16, 2025. Belleville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 79% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 223 times since 1961, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Belleville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 87% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare Belleville's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Belleville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 20 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Belleville: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Belleville
By decade
- 2020s30(1 EF3+)
- 2010s30(4 EF3+)
- 2000s27
- 1990s23
- 1980s10(4 EF3+)
- 1970s13(1 EF3+)
- 1960s18(3 EF3+)
- 1950s24(5 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 1959 | F4 | 13 mi | 23.9 mi | 21 / 345 |
| Feb 24, 1956 | F4 | 2 mi | 77.6 mi | 6 / 36 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F4 | 21 mi | 25 mi | 3 / 216 |
| Apr 22, 2011 | EF4 | 15 mi | 21.3 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Apr 3, 1981 | F4 | 15 mi | 11.9 mi | 0 / 32 |
| Dec 10, 2021 | EF3 | 16 mi | 4.22 mi | 6 / 1 |
| May 15, 1968 | F3 | 10 mi | 2 mi | 4 / 60 |
| Dec 2, 1982 | F3 | 15 mi | 10.5 mi | 2 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1950 | F3 | 23 mi | 18 mi | 2 / 25 |
| Dec 31, 2010 | EF3 | 22 mi | 6.65 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Apr 5, 1958 | F3 | 15 mi | 60.5 mi | 1 / 8 |
| May 31, 2013 | EF3 | 20 mi | 10.64 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 175, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Belleville
The Storm Prediction Center has 223 hail reports within 10 miles of Belleville since 1961, made on 133 separate days. Of these, 147 were 1 inch across or larger, and 19 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3.5 inches, was reported on 2 days, most recently April 28, 2012. The most recent report is from April 2, 2025. May has the most reports, 61.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Belleville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Belleville Siu Rsch, IL, 8 miles east of Belleville at 450 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 24°F. May is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 43.4 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 53 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 94 nights a year. Snowfall averages 11.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 43.4 inches is more than at 117 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (80%). Fairview Heights, 5 miles north, has its own station (Cahokia St Louis Airport, IL): 41.0 inches a year, 2.4 less than here, and a July average high of 89°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 43 | 24 | 2.6 | 5 | 3.4 |
| Feb | 49 | 28 | 2.2 | 4 | 3.3 |
| Mar | 59 | 36 | 3.4 | 7 | 1.0 |
| Apr | 71 | 46 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| May | 79 | 56 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 65 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 68 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 65 | 3.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 57 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 73 | 47 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 58 | 37 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Dec | 46 | 28 | 2.6 | 5 | 2.9 |
| Year | 69 | 46 | 43.4 | 71 | 11.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Belleville Siu Rsch, IL (450 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 Belleville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 226 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Belleville: 217 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $1.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on June 10, 2003. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 90 have had fewer than Belleville.
April 27, 2026: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Belleville — 3 injured.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds blew a tree onto a home 2 miles southeast of Belleville. Three individuals sustained injuries.”
March 14, 2025: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Belleville — 2 injured, $150,000 damage.
September 8, 2001: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Belleville — $600,000 damage.
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 Belleville's 4 ZIP codes have filed 150 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Late July Flooding in 2022: 19 claims (13% of all) and $315,000, then Flooding in 1995 with 13 and Mid-spring storms in 2013 with 10. The year with the most claims was 1996, with 25. 31% 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, 244 have fewer than Belleville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Late July Flooding2022 | 19 | $315,000 |
| Flooding1995 | 13 | $11,000 |
| Mid-spring storms2013 | 10 | $121,000 |
St. Clair County, which includes Belleville, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng, on September 20, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives St. Clair County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $174.6 million a year, the 6th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $71.7 million (41%), 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 Belleville
- Fairview Heights, IL5 mi
- O Fallon, IL6 mi
- Scott Afb, IL7 mi
- Caseyville, IL7 mi
- Millstadt, IL8 mi
- Freeburg, IL9 mi
- Centreville, IL9 mi
- East Saint Louis, IL9 mi
- Smithton, IL9 mi
- Cahokia, IL10 mi
- Collinsville, IL10 mi
- Lebanon, IL10 mi
All Illinois cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Belleville with another place →