NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Petersburg, 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 Petersburg, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1902. Since 1950, 136 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 136
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Petersburg
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Petersburg; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1902, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 66 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Petersburg. The strongest of the 136 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on June 14, 1957; its path came within 20 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 136, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 70 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 34. The most recent tornado was on September 20, 2025. Petersburg has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 84 times since 1964, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 548 Illinois cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Petersburg.
Compare Petersburg's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Petersburg
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | 66 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 Petersburg: 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 Petersburg
By decade
- 2020s27
- 2010s14(1 EF3+)
- 2000s29(1 EF3+)
- 1990s25(1 EF3+)
- 1980s10
- 1970s12(2 EF3+)
- 1960s11(3 EF3+)
- 1950s8(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 14, 1957 | F4 | 20 mi | 4.3 mi | 2 / 50 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 19 mi | 5.1 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Apr 22, 1963 | F3 | 11 mi | 42.9 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Dec 31, 2010 | EF3 | 1 mi | 3.63 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 19, 2009 | EF3 | 16 mi | 24.27 mi | 0 / 19 |
| May 9, 1995 | F3 | 11 mi | 50 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jul 26, 1978 | F3 | 12 mi | 8.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 6, 1977 | F3 | 25 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1968 | F3 | 15 mi | 12.6 mi | 0 / 25 |
| Jun 18, 2025 | EF2 | 19 mi | 6.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 2023 | EF2 | 20 mi | 9.07 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF2 | 21 mi | 21.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 136, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Petersburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 84 hail reports within 10 miles of Petersburg since 1964, made on 67 separate days. Of these, 50 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on December 8, 1991. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 26.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Petersburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Athens 4SW, IL, 6 miles southeast of Petersburg at 594 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 35°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.0 inches; the year adds up to 38.5 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 121 nights a year. That 38.5 inches is more than at 44 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (30%). Mason City, 15 miles northeast, has its own station (Mason City 4SE, IL): 39.3 inches a year, 0.8 more than here, and the same July average high, 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 35 | 18 | 2.2 | 5 |
| Feb | 40 | 21 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Mar | 52 | 30 | 2.7 | 6 |
| Apr | 64 | 40 | 3.9 | 7 |
| May | 74 | 51 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Jun | 81 | 61 | 4.2 | 8 |
| Jul | 85 | 64 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Aug | 83 | 62 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Sep | 78 | 54 | 3.2 | 5 |
| Oct | 66 | 43 | 3.4 | 7 |
| Nov | 53 | 33 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Dec | 40 | 23 | 2.3 | 5 |
| Year | 62 | 42 | 38.5 | 71 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Athens 4SW, IL (594 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 Petersburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 142 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Petersburg: 121 thunderstorm wind reports, 18 flash floods, 2 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $9.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on April 20, 2000. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 18. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 292 have had fewer than Petersburg.
June 28, 1998: thunderstorm wind in Petersburg — 3 injured.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds blew down a beer tent at the county fair. The tent injured 3 people, one seriously.”
July 12, 2008: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Petersburg — 2 injured, $40,000 damage.
July 19, 1997: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Petersburg — 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 Petersburg's ZIP code 62675 have filed 28 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $140,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1994, with 11. 36% 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 Petersburg.
Menard County, which includes Petersburg, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Menard County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.1 million a year, the 86th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.0 million (37%), 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.