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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Erie, IL

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Erie, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 138 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
1

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
138

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
6

1 deaths in all

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Erie

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Erie, Illinois, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 1133 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Erie: 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 Erie

By decade

  • 2020s29
  • 2010s37
  • 2000s7
  • 1990s30(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s7(2 EF3+)
  • 1970s11(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s13(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s4
Strongest tornadoes near Erie, Illinois
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Mar 29, 1981F47 mi5.1 mi0 / 0
Jun 20, 1974F313 mi10.6 mi1 / 20
Mar 13, 1990F38 mi15.5 mi0 / 1
May 8, 1988F316 mi32 mi0 / 0
May 13, 1974F324 mi3.6 mi0 / 0
Apr 19, 1966F324 mi2 mi0 / 0
Apr 4, 2023EF216 mi2.79 mi0 / 0
Apr 4, 2023EF219 mi0.52 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF213 mi3.05 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF214 mi9.32 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF215 mi3.55 mi0 / 0
Mar 6, 2017EF225 mi34.68 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 138, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Erie while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

Other cities in Illinois