NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Washington, 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 Washington, Illinois since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 164 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 164
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Washington
The highest rating among the 164 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on November 17, 2013, passed within a mile of the city centre. Of the 164, 14 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 84 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 43. The most recent tornado was on December 28, 2025. Washington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 69% of the 548 Illinois cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 207 times since 1963, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Washington has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare Washington's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Washington
By decade
- 2020s23
- 2010s28(2 EF3+)
- 2000s33(2 EF3+)
- 1990s36(1 EF3+)
- 1980s8
- 1970s20(1 EF3+)
- 1960s12(1 EF3+)
- 1950s4(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF4 | in town | 46.36 mi | 3 / 125 |
| Jul 13, 2004 | F4 | 9 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 29, 1976 | F4 | 14 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 28, 2017 | EF3 | 15 mi | 17.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 2003 | F3 | 4 mi | 17.5 mi | 0 / 32 |
| May 13, 1995 | F3 | 13 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 25 |
| Sep 14, 1965 | F3 | 7 mi | 6.6 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Aug 13, 1956 | F3 | 1 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 7, 2017 | EF2 | 20 mi | 2.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 15, 2016 | EF2 | 18 mi | 7.55 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 2015 | EF2 | 23 mi | 2.39 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 17, 2013 | EF2 | 12 mi | 2.26 mi | 0 / 10 |
The strongest 12 of 164, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Washington
The Storm Prediction Center has 207 hail reports within 10 miles of Washington since 1963, made on 105 separate days. Of these, 118 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on May 30, 2004. The most recent report is from May 20, 2025. May has the most reports, 43.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Washington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Congerville 2NW, IL, 12 miles southeast of Washington at 640 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 17°F. May is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 37.5 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 24 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 22.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.5 inches is more than at 23 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (16%). East Peoria, 5 miles west, has its own station (Peoria Gtr Peoria Airport, IL): 37.6 inches a year, 0.1 more than here, and the same July average high, 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 17 | 2.1 | 4 | 6.8 |
| Feb | 38 | 21 | 1.8 | 4 | 5.2 |
| Mar | 50 | 31 | 2.4 | 6 | 2.8 |
| Apr | 63 | 41 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.8 |
| May | 74 | 52 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 65 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 55 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 43 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 51 | 32 | 2.6 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Dec | 39 | 23 | 2.0 | 5 | 5.2 |
| Year | 62 | 42 | 37.5 | 70 | 22.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Congerville 2NW, IL (640 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 Washington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 359 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Washington: 306 thunderstorm wind reports, 38 flash floods, 9 floods and 6 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $143.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 15, 2024. May has had the most flash floods, 10 of 38. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 442 have had fewer than Washington.
June 30, 2019: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Washington — 1 killed.
April 17, 2013: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Washington — 2 injured, $100.0 million damage.
April 23, 2009: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Washington — 2 injured, $10,000 damage.
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 Washington's ZIP code 61571 have filed 23 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $58,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 26% 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, 80 have fewer than Washington.
Tazewell County, which includes Washington, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 3 severe storms, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Tazewell 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 $60.0 million a year, the 17th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $28.5 million (47%), 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.