NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit East Moline, 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
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of East Moline, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 185 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 185
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for East Moline
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed East Moline; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 36 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than East Moline. The highest rating among the 185 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 9 times; the most recent, on May 9, 1995, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on June 20, 1974, killed 1 person. Of the 185, 14 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 101 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 50. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. East Moline has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 87% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 244 times since 1956, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). East Moline has more hail reports within 10 miles than 94% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare East Moline's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near East Moline
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in East Moline: 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 East Moline
By decade
- 2020s44
- 2010s39
- 2000s18
- 1990s32(2 EF3+)
- 1980s12(1 EF3+)
- 1970s20(4 EF3+)
- 1960s16(2 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 1974 | F3 | 24 mi | 10.6 mi | 1 / 20 |
| May 9, 1995 | F3 | 24 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F3 | 9 mi | 15.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 8, 1988 | F3 | 20 mi | 32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 1978 | F3 | 19 mi | 6.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1974 | F3 | 16 mi | 48.6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 13, 1974 | F3 | 12 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1966 | F3 | 4 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 1962 | F3 | 19 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 11, 2025 | EF2 | 11 mi | 7.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 2023 | EF2 | 17 mi | 2.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 2023 | EF2 | 4 mi | 0.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 185, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in East Moline
The Storm Prediction Center has 244 hail reports within 10 miles of East Moline since 1956, made on 119 separate days. Of these, 147 were 1 inch across or larger, and 18 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on April 4, 2023. The most recent report is from July 11, 2025. April has the most reports, 65.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in East Moline
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Le Claire L&D 14, IA, 4 miles north of East Moline at 577 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.5 inches; the year adds up to 37.2 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 126 nights a year. That 37.2 inches is more than at 18 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (12%). Bettendorf, IA, 4 miles northwest, has its own station (Rock Island L&D 15, IL): 38.7 inches a year, 1.5 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 14 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Feb | 35 | 18 | 1.6 | 4 |
| Mar | 47 | 28 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Apr | 61 | 40 | 3.8 | 7 |
| May | 72 | 52 | 4.8 | 8 |
| Jun | 82 | 62 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Jul | 85 | 66 | 4.2 | 6 |
| Aug | 83 | 64 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Sep | 77 | 56 | 3.4 | 5 |
| Oct | 64 | 44 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Nov | 48 | 31 | 2.1 | 5 |
| Dec | 36 | 21 | 1.9 | 4 |
| Year | 60 | 41 | 37.2 | 67 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Le Claire L&D 14, IA (577 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 East Moline
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 467 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of East Moline: 353 thunderstorm wind reports, 59 flash floods, 46 floods, 5 heavy rain events and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 4 people and injured 17, and the NWS estimated $10.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 3, 2025. July has had the most flash floods, 24 of 59. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 505 have had fewer than East Moline.
July 21, 2008: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of East Moline — 2 killed, 4 injured.
June 21, 1997: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of East Moline — 1 killed, 2 injured.
April 1, 2019: flood 10 miles from the centre of East Moline — 1 killed.
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 East Moline's ZIP code 61244 have filed 647 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $5.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 42 claims (6% of all) and $539,000, then Mid-spring storms in 2013 with 37 and Flooding in 1985 with 33. The year with the most claims was 1979, with 135. 17% 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, 308 have fewer than East Moline.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 42 | $539,000 |
| Mid-spring storms2013 | 37 | $660,000 |
| Flooding1985 | 33 | $155,000 |
Rock Island County, which includes East Moline, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane, 1 severe storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Rock Island County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $45.4 million a year, the 23rd highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $16.6 million (36%), 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.