NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Saint Joseph, 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
4 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Saint Joseph, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 157 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 4
- Tornadoes
- 157
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Saint Joseph
None of the 4 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Saint Joseph; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 56 mph winds when its centre passed 21 miles away. The record near Saint Joseph begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 4 systems, one has come since 2000. Saint Joseph has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 79% of the 548 Illinois cities on this site. The strongest of the 157 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on March 20, 1976; its path came within 3 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on April 9, 1953, killed 3 people. Of the 157, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 80 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 42. The most recent tornado was on October 3, 2025. Saint Joseph has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 64% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 58 times since 1958, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 548 Illinois cities, 74% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Saint Joseph.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Saint Joseph
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 3 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 27 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 Saint Joseph: 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 Saint Joseph
By decade
- 2020s17
- 2010s25(2 EF3+)
- 2000s38
- 1990s24(2 EF3+)
- 1980s11
- 1970s17(3 EF3+)
- 1960s16(2 EF3+)
- 1950s9(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 1976 | F4 | 3 mi | 63.7 mi | 0 / 18 |
| Apr 9, 1953 | F3 | 4 mi | 156.7 mi | 3 / 22 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | F3 | 4 mi | 2 mi | 1 / 13 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 8 mi | 5.9 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF3 | 10 mi | 29.83 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF3 | 12 mi | 18.74 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | F3 | 8 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 6 mi | 14.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 22, 1963 | F3 | 22 mi | 38.6 mi | 0 / 40 |
| Apr 22, 1963 | F3 | 11 mi | 31.8 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Sep 9, 2016 | EF2 | 9 mi | 6.26 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF2 | 14 mi | 19.68 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 157, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Saint Joseph
The Storm Prediction Center has 58 hail reports within 10 miles of Saint Joseph since 1958, made on 47 separate days. Of these, 25 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on July 11, 2020. The most recent report is from March 14, 2025. May has the most reports, 16.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Saint Joseph
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Champaign 3S, IL, 11 miles west of Saint Joseph at 721 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 41.0 inches over 74 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 120 nights a year. Snowfall averages 20.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 41.0 inches is more than at 95 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (65%). Rantoul, 14 miles northwest, has its own station (Rantoul, IL): 40.3 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 18 | 2.3 | 5 | 6.5 |
| Feb | 38 | 21 | 2.2 | 5 | 5.8 |
| Mar | 50 | 31 | 2.8 | 6 | 2.5 |
| Apr | 63 | 42 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.3 |
| May | 74 | 53 | 4.8 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 62 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 65 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 64 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 56 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 66 | 44 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 51 | 32 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 39 | 24 | 2.4 | 5 | 4.8 |
| Year | 62 | 43 | 41.0 | 74 | 20.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Champaign 3S, IL (721 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 Saint Joseph
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 125 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Saint Joseph: 111 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 flash floods, 5 floods and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $3.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 83 mph, on June 29, 1998. May has had the most flash floods, 2 of 5. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 28 have had fewer than Saint Joseph.
June 29, 1998: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Saint Joseph — 2 injured, $500,000 damage.
June 12, 1998: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Saint Joseph — 1 injured.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds blew over a semi on Hwy 49 near Homer. The driver sustained minor injuries.”
February 11, 1999: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Saint Joseph — 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 Saint Joseph's ZIP code 61873 have filed 47 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $674,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1994: 12 claims (26% of all) and $173,000. The year with the most claims was 2008, with 13. 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, 156 have fewer than Saint Joseph.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1994 | 12 | $173,000 |
Champaign County, which includes Saint Joseph, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 tornadoes, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Champaign County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $93.3 million a year, the 11th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $43.2 million (46%), 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 Saint Joseph
- Urbana, IL9 mi
- Savoy, IL12 mi
- Champaign, IL12 mi
- Rantoul, IL14 mi
- Oakwood, IL15 mi
- Tolono, IL15 mi
- Catlin, IL18 mi
- Villa Grove, IL19 mi
- Mahomet, IL20 mi
- Danville, IL22 mi
- Westville, IL22 mi
- Fisher, IL22 mi
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