NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Peoria Heights, 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
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Peoria Heights, Illinois since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 153 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 153
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Peoria Heights
The highest rating among the 153 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on November 17, 2013, came within 7 miles. Of the 153, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 79 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 39. The most recent tornado was on December 28, 2025. Peoria Heights has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 62% of the 548 Illinois cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 198 times since 1957, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Peoria Heights has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare Peoria Heights's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Peoria Heights
By decade
- 2020s22
- 2010s30(2 EF3+)
- 2000s27(2 EF3+)
- 1990s31(1 EF3+)
- 1980s9
- 1970s20(3 EF3+)
- 1960s11(3 EF3+)
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF4 | 7 mi | 46.36 mi | 3 / 125 |
| Jul 13, 2004 | F4 | 14 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 29, 1976 | F4 | 7 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 1975 | F3 | 23 mi | 14 mi | 2 / 69 |
| Feb 28, 2017 | EF3 | 16 mi | 17.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 2003 | F3 | 9 mi | 17.5 mi | 0 / 32 |
| May 13, 1995 | F3 | 16 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 25 |
| Jul 17, 1972 | F3 | 23 mi | 81.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 14, 1965 | F3 | in town | 6.6 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Apr 24, 1965 | F3 | 25 mi | 6.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 14, 1961 | F3 | 23 mi | 127.1 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Aug 13, 1956 | F3 | 5 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 153, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Peoria Heights
The Storm Prediction Center has 198 hail reports within 10 miles of Peoria Heights since 1957, made on 103 separate days. Of these, 119 were 1 inch across or larger, and 15 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 20, 2022. The most recent report is from May 20, 2025. June has the most reports, 42.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Peoria Heights
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Peoria Gtr Peoria Airport, IL, 8 miles southwest of Peoria Heights at 650 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.0 inches; the year adds up to 37.6 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. Snowfall averages 26.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.6 inches is more than at 25 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (17%). Washington, 8 miles southeast, has its own station (Congerville 2NW, IL): 37.5 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and the same July average high, 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 18 | 2.1 | 5 | 7.7 |
| Feb | 39 | 21 | 2.0 | 5 | 6.9 |
| Mar | 51 | 32 | 2.7 | 6 | 3.3 |
| Apr | 64 | 42 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.5 |
| May | 74 | 53 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 62 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 66 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 85 | 64 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 78 | 56 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 65 | 44 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 51 | 33 | 2.7 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Dec | 39 | 23 | 2.2 | 5 | 6.2 |
| Year | 62 | 43 | 37.6 | 71 | 26.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Peoria Gtr Peoria Airport, IL (650 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 Peoria Heights
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 348 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Peoria Heights: 298 thunderstorm wind reports, 37 flash floods, 8 lightning strikes and 5 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $131.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 15, 2024. June has had the most flash floods, 8 of 37. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 437 have had fewer than Peoria Heights.
June 30, 2019: thunderstorm wind in Peoria Heights — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 40-foot long 6-inch diameter tree branch snapped and hit a 39 year-old man. He later died of his injuries.”
June 29, 1998: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Peoria Heights — 4 injured, $1.6 million damage.
April 17, 2013: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Peoria Heights — 2 injured, $100.0 million damage.
NWS: “00 inches resulted in damage to thousands of houses and businesses in the county, including the city of Peoria where two houses collapsed into the basement injuring two people. Every creek and stream in the county was flooded.”
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 Peoria Heights's ZIP code 61616 have filed 296 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1985: 51 claims (17% of all) and $385,000, then Mid-spring storms in 2013 with 20. The year with the most claims was 1982, with 71. 27% 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, 282 have fewer than Peoria Heights.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1985 | 51 | $385,000 |
| Mid-spring storms2013 | 20 | $630,000 |
Peoria County, which includes Peoria Heights, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 5 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Peoria County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $84.7 million a year, the 12th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $32.2 million (38%), 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.