NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Jacksonville, 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 Jacksonville, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1902. Since 1950, 116 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 116
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Jacksonville
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Jacksonville; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1902, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 61 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Jacksonville. The highest rating among the 116 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on July 26, 1978, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on May 24, 2004, killed 1 person. Of the 116, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 63 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 23. The most recent tornado was on June 18, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Jacksonville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 70 times since 1963, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 65% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Jacksonville.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Jacksonville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | 61 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 Jacksonville: 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 Jacksonville
By decade
- 2020s29
- 2010s12
- 2000s22
- 1990s22
- 1980s4
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s8(2 EF3+)
- 1950s8
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 1963 | F3 | 22 mi | 42.9 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jul 26, 1978 | F3 | 24 mi | 8.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 24, 1961 | F3 | 9 mi | 64.2 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 18, 2025 | EF2 | 4 mi | 6.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 2023 | EF2 | 24 mi | 9.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 10, 2021 | EF2 | 11 mi | 12.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 2021 | EF2 | 21 mi | 5.83 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 20, 2014 | EF2 | 24 mi | 12.09 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 19, 2009 | EF2 | 14 mi | 19.15 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 12, 2006 | F2 | 10 mi | 67 mi | 0 / 20 |
| May 24, 2004 | F2 | 1 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 8, 1999 | F2 | 22 mi | 27.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 116, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Jacksonville
The Storm Prediction Center has 70 hail reports within 10 miles of Jacksonville since 1963, made on 49 separate days. Of these, 48 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on May 5, 1977. The most recent report is from May 20, 2025. May has the most reports, 22.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Jacksonville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Jacksonville 2, IL, 1 mile south of Jacksonville at 626 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.0 inches; the year adds up to 41.5 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 35 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 121 nights a year. That 41.5 inches is more than at 100 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (68%). Winchester, 14 miles southwest, has its own station (Winchester, IL): 40.5 inches a year, 1.0 less than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 35 | 18 | 2.2 | 5 |
| Feb | 41 | 21 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Mar | 52 | 30 | 3.0 | 7 |
| Apr | 65 | 41 | 4.5 | 8 |
| May | 75 | 53 | 5.1 | 9 |
| Jun | 83 | 62 | 5.0 | 7 |
| Jul | 87 | 65 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Aug | 86 | 63 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Sep | 80 | 55 | 3.8 | 5 |
| Oct | 67 | 43 | 3.1 | 6 |
| Nov | 52 | 32 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Dec | 40 | 23 | 2.4 | 5 |
| Year | 64 | 42 | 41.5 | 72 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Jacksonville 2, IL (626 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 Jacksonville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 98 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Jacksonville: 81 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods and 5 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $14.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 24, 2004. 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 Jacksonville.
September 20, 2009: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Jacksonville — 1 killed.
NWS: “00 inches were reported within two hours in a 15 mile wide band across western and central Morgan County. Numerous streets in the city of Jacksonville were flooded.”
May 8, 2000: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Jacksonville — 1 injured, $30,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds created a path of damage across southern Morgan County. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.”
February 11, 1999: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Jacksonville — 1 injured.
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 Jacksonville's ZIP code 62650 have filed 60 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1982: 13 claims (22% of all) and $34,000. 25% 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, 179 have fewer than Jacksonville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1982 | 13 | $34,000 |
Morgan County, which includes Jacksonville, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on August 15, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Morgan County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $28.5 million a year, the 35th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $9.0 million (32%), 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 Jacksonville
- Winchester, IL14 mi
- Virginia, IL15 mi
- Roodhouse, IL18 mi
- New Berlin, IL18 mi
- Waverly, IL18 mi
- Pleasant Plains, IL20 mi
- Beardstown, IL22 mi
- White Hall, IL23 mi
- Greenfield, IL25 mi
- Auburn, IL27 mi
- Petersburg, IL28 mi
- Chatham, IL28 mi
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