NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Galesburg, 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 Galesburg, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 123 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 123
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Galesburg
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Galesburg; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 51 mph winds when its centre passed 73 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Galesburg. The strongest of the 123 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 13, 1995; its path came within 15 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on September 26, 1959, killed 1 person. Of the 123, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 51 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 37. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 57% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Galesburg. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 64 times since 1974, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Of the 548 Illinois cities, 70% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Galesburg.
Compare Galesburg's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Galesburg
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Galesburg: 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 Galesburg
By decade
- 2020s18
- 2010s16
- 2000s17
- 1990s39(1 EF3+)
- 1980s4
- 1970s16(2 EF3+)
- 1960s10(1 EF3+)
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 1995 | F4 | 15 mi | 50 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jun 13, 1975 | F3 | 20 mi | 6.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1974 | F3 | 6 mi | 48.6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 14, 1961 | F3 | 18 mi | 127.1 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Sep 26, 1959 | F2 | 9 mi | 4.9 mi | 1 / 0 |
| May 17, 2017 | EF2 | 21 mi | 1.29 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 15, 2016 | EF2 | 24 mi | 8.23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 2015 | EF2 | 7 mi | 5.95 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 16, 2015 | EF2 | 16 mi | 1.72 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2010 | EF2 | 23 mi | 2.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2010 | EF2 | 18 mi | 5.71 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 2006 | F2 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 123, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Galesburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 64 hail reports within 10 miles of Galesburg since 1974, made on 51 separate days. Of these, 38 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on May 9, 1995. The most recent report is from August 15, 2024. May and June have the most reports, 13 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Galesburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Galesburg, IL, in Galesburg at 761 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.7 inches; the year adds up to 39.0 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 16 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 129 nights a year. Snowfall averages 25.9 inches a year, most of it in January. That 39.0 inches is more than at 58 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (40%). Knoxville, 6 miles southeast, has its own station (Knoxville, IL): 40.5 inches a year, 1.5 more than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30 | 14 | 1.7 | 4 | 9.0 |
| Feb | 35 | 17 | 1.9 | 4 | 6.6 |
| Mar | 48 | 28 | 2.4 | 6 | 2.3 |
| Apr | 61 | 40 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.4 |
| May | 72 | 52 | 5.3 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 81 | 62 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 65 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 63 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 55 | 3.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 43 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 48 | 30 | 2.6 | 5 | 1.7 |
| Dec | 35 | 20 | 2.1 | 5 | 5.9 |
| Year | 60 | 41 | 39.0 | 70 | 25.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Galesburg, IL (761 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 Galesburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 118 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Galesburg: 105 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 34, and the NWS estimated $3.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on August 23, 2007. June has had the most flash floods, 5 of 12. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 179 have had fewer than Galesburg.
August 23, 2007: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Galesburg — 1 killed, 29 injured, $1.4 million damage.
NWS: “A swath of wind damage cut through Knox county. The winds produced considerable tree, power line, and crop damage.”
March 9, 2002: thunderstorm wind in Galesburg — 1 killed.
NWS: “As a severe thunderstorm moved northeast across Knox County, it blew down several trees and power lines. 4 miles south southeast of Rio on IL Route 150 at 2500 N, the thunderstorm winds caused a woman to lose control of her car.”
June 29, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Galesburg — 2 injured, $1.0 million 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 Galesburg's ZIP code 61401 have filed 28 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $166,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 18% 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, 103 have fewer than Galesburg.
Knox County, which includes Galesburg, has been named in 11 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Knox County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $18.0 million a year, the 56th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.0 million (33%), 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 Galesburg
- Knoxville, IL6 mi
- Abingdon, IL10 mi
- Monmouth, IL15 mi
- Galva, IL23 mi
- Elmwood, IL24 mi
- Cambridge, IL25 mi
- Farmington, IL26 mi
- Sherrard, IL26 mi
- Aledo, IL26 mi
- Orion, IL28 mi
- Bushnell, IL29 mi
- Brimfield, IL29 mi
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