Live
Active alerts for this county
Extreme Heat Warning
Iowa; Johnson; Cedar; Muscatine; Scott; Keokuk; Washington; Louisa; Jefferson; Henry; Des Moines; Van Buren; Lee; Rock Island; Henry; Bureau; Putnam; Mercer; Henderson; Warren; Hancock; McDonough; Scotland; Clark
Bureau County, Illinois severe weather history spans 487 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 47.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #920 nationally and #30 in Illinois.
487
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$10.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Bureau County, Illinois severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Bureau County, Illinois severe weather history averages 6.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 162 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 41 events fall before 1990 and 446 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Bureau County, Illinois record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $5.2M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Bureau County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 230 | 0 | $2.1M | 103 | 1960–2026 |
| Hail | 157 | 0 | $2.2M | 4 | 1972–2026 |
| Tornado | 46 | 1 | $5.2M | F3 | 1951–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 26 | 0 | $385K | 4 | 1997–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 15 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2025 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $86K | 0 | 1999–2022 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2019 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $100K | 4 | 2003–2006 |
Decade by decade
Bureau County, Illinois severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
49 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 42 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951-12-06 | EF3 | 1 | 1 | 21.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1995-05-09 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 22.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-03-04 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-04-24 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 6.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-03-31 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 9.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1975-06-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1959-09-26 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-04-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-03-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 13.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-08-09 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Bureau County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 1951 | Tornado | 1 | 1 | $250K | |
| May 11, 2022 | Lightning | DALZELL | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado was first reported near Neponset at 1730 CDT – near highway 92 by 1800 CDT and photographed just west of Walnut at 1815 CDT. Photographs taken by Kevin Hladik verified that at least two tornadoes were on the ground at the same time in the Walnut area. The tornadoes appeared to be several hundred yards apart. The Melvin "Red" Donovan farm had some of the most extensive damage including their two story farm house that was totally destroyed. Most of the house debris was little more than kindling wood. The basement was almost entirely filled with tornado debris so thankfully the Donovans were not home when the tornado struck. Damage was estimated at $300,000 to $500,000 in the Walnut area alone. Two sheriff squad cars were dented by golf ball-size hail as deputies were tracking the tornadoes. On one of the cars the windshield and one headlight were broken out.
Also reported by emergency manager, law enforcement, and the fire department.Hail across Princeton ranged from 1.00 inch to 2.75 inches with the most significant hail damage on the south side of the city. State police also reported golfball sized hail (1.75 inch) at the Princeton exit on Interstate 80 (exit 56).
Wind gusts estimated to be 85 mph caused widespread wind damage across the central and southern parts of Princeton, IL between 950 pm and 1000 pm July 24. Several trees were blown down or uprooted. An outdoor stage was destroyed. A section of roof of a funeral home was ripped off. Several telephone poles were broken south of town. About 3 or 4 buildings were destroyed about 1/4 mile south of town.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
32,866
Population (ACS)
$127K
Median home value
17
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Sep 19, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| May 10, 2013 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 17, 2011 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Oct 3, 2008 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Princeton 108
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Bureau County, Illinois?
487 events are on record between 1951 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $10.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Bureau County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 230 recorded events — 47.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Bureau County?
49 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 42 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Bureau County?
17 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Bureau County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Bureau County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Bureau County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 62 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Bureau 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
- Brown County 145
- Calhoun County 142
- Boone County 267
- Carroll County 373
- Bond County 220
- Cass County 208
Cite this page
“Bureau County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/bureau-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.