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Stark County, Illinois severe weather history spans 166 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 50.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,629 nationally and #98 in Illinois.
166
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$17.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Stark County, Illinois severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Stark County, Illinois severe weather history averages 2.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 59 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 26 events fall before 1990 and 140 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flash flood, with $14.0M in reported property damage. In total, 5 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Stark County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 84 | 0 | $491K | 70 | 1969–2025 |
| Hail | 44 | 0 | $0 | 3 | 1955–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 18 | 0 | $14.0M | 0 | 2002–2022 |
| Tornado | 15 | 0 | $2.7M | F2 | 1959–2026 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2014 |
Decade by decade
Stark County, Illinois severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
16 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 14 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961-05-14 | EF3 | 0 | 8 | 127.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-07-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 9.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1959-09-26 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-08-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-02-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2004-04-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-07-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 29.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-13 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-06-14 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-09-01 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Stark County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | COUNTYWIDE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Thunderstorms moving over the same areas multiple times resulted in 3.00 to 7.00 inches of rain in nearly all of Stark County during the early morning hours of June 24th. All rural roads were closed and most creeks were flooded out of their banks. State Highway 17, 40, 78, 91 and 93 also had several stretches that were closed. This was the second major flash flood to impact Stark County since mid-April. Most of the flooding subsided by mid-afternoon.
Torrential rainfall of 5.00 to 8.00 inches resulted in damage to nearly one thousand houses and businesses in the county. Every creek and stream in the county was flooded. Every road in the county was impassable, and several water rescues were made.
A tornado touched down 0.8 miles southwest of Castleton at 4:12 PM CST. The tornado then tracked northeastward…damaging trees, an outbuilding, and a few homes before crossing into extreme southwestern Bureau County in the National Weather Service Davenport County Warning Area (CWA) at 4:19 PM CST.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
5,308
Population (ACS)
$105K
Median home value
8
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| May 10, 2013 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 17, 2011 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Dec 29, 2006 | Snowstorm | SNOW | EM |
| Sep 7, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Stark County, Illinois?
166 events are on record between 1955 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $17.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Stark County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 84 recorded events — 50.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Stark County?
16 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 14 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Stark County?
8 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Stark County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Stark County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Stark County as very low risk, placing it in the 7 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Stark County, Illinois severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Shelby County 312
- Stephenson County 518
- Scott County 167
- Tazewell County 729
- Schuyler County 212
- Union County 230
Cite this page
“Stark County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/stark-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.