NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit 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 Moline, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 178 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 178
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Moline
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Moline; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 51 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 Moline. The highest rating among the 178 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 8 times; the most recent, on May 9, 1995, came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an EF1 on June 24, 2013, killed 1 person. Of the 178, 18 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 96 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 46. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. Moline has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 81% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 271 times since 1956, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Moline has more hail reports within 10 miles than 98% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare Moline's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Moline
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 36 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 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 Moline
By decade
- 2020s39
- 2010s37
- 2000s20
- 1990s32(2 EF3+)
- 1980s13(1 EF3+)
- 1970s18(3 EF3+)
- 1960s15(2 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 1995 | F3 | 20 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F3 | 14 mi | 15.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 8, 1988 | F3 | 21 mi | 32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 1978 | F3 | 14 mi | 6.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1974 | F3 | 12 mi | 48.6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 13, 1974 | F3 | 10 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1966 | F3 | in town | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 1962 | F3 | 17 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 11, 2025 | EF2 | 8 mi | 7.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 2023 | EF2 | 20 mi | 2.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 2023 | EF2 | 7 mi | 0.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF2 | 23 mi | 3.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 178, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Moline
The Storm Prediction Center has 271 hail reports within 10 miles of Moline since 1956, made on 117 separate days. Of these, 164 were 1 inch across or larger, and 24 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, 83.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Moline
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Moline Quad City International Airport, IL, 2 miles southwest of Moline at 592 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 15°F. June is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.7 inches; the year adds up to 38.2 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 22 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 129 nights a year. Snowfall averages 36.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 38.2 inches is more than at 39 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (27%). Rock Island, 4 miles west, has its own station (Rock Island L&D 15, IL): 38.7 inches a year, 0.5 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 15 | 1.7 | 5 | 10.8 |
| Feb | 37 | 19 | 1.8 | 5 | 8.6 |
| Mar | 50 | 30 | 2.6 | 6 | 4.4 |
| Apr | 63 | 40 | 3.8 | 7 | 1.1 |
| May | 74 | 51 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 65 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 78 | 54 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 65 | 43 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 50 | 31 | 2.3 | 5 | 2.1 |
| Dec | 37 | 21 | 2.0 | 5 | 8.8 |
| Year | 61 | 41 | 38.2 | 69 | 36.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Moline Quad City International Airport, IL (592 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 Moline
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 534 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Moline: 406 thunderstorm wind reports, 64 flash floods, 51 floods, 7 heavy rain events and 6 lightning strikes. They killed 4 people and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $12.0 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, 23 of 64. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 511 have had fewer than Moline.
July 21, 2008: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Moline — 2 killed, 4 injured.
June 21, 1997: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Moline — 1 killed, 2 injured.
April 1, 2019: flood 6 miles from the centre of 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 Moline's ZIP code 61265 have filed 827 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $8.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Mid-spring storms in 2013: 65 claims (8% of all) and $1.2 million, then Flooding in 1985 with 55 and Midwest Flooding in 1993 with 37. The year with the most claims was 1979, with 163. 20% 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, 313 have fewer than Moline.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-spring storms2013 | 65 | $1.2 million |
| Flooding1985 | 55 | $211,000 |
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 37 | $631,000 |
Rock Island County, which includes 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.