Live
Active alerts for this county
Heat Advisory
Knox; Stark; Peoria; Marshall; Woodford; Fulton; Tazewell; McLean; Schuyler; Mason; Logan; De Witt; Piatt; Champaign; Vermilion; Cass; Menard; Scott; Morgan; Sangamon; Christian; Macon; Moultrie; Douglas; Coles; Edgar; Shelby; Cumberland; Clark; Effingham; Jasper; Crawford; Clay; Richland; Lawrence
Edgar County, Illinois severe weather history spans 297 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 49.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,798 nationally and #66 in Illinois.
297
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
23
Direct injuries
$3.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Edgar County, Illinois severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Edgar County, Illinois severe weather history averages 4.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 78 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 40 events fall before 1990 and 257 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $1.6M 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 Edgar County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 148 | 0 | $1.6M | 75 | 1955–2025 |
| Hail | 73 | 0 | $65K | 3 | 1974–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 37 | 0 | $735K | 0 | 1998–2022 |
| Tornado | 34 | 0 | $663K | F3 | 1958–2025 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $700K | 0 | 2008–2017 |
Decade by decade
Edgar County, Illinois severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
35 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 30 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963-04-22 | EF3 | 0 | 40 | 38.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-04-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 48.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2021-12-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1990-06-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 17.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1990-06-02 | EF2 | 0 | 6 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1986-05-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-05-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-03-06 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 30.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1958-05-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 7.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-03-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.4 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Edgar County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 1963 | Tornado | 0 | 20 | $25K | |
| Apr 27, 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chrisman | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Apr 15, 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Paris | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Widespread flooding impacted about 200 homes and businesses in Edgar County after 8 to 9 inches of rain fell across the county during three heavy rain events between June 2nd and the 6th. Edgar County was declared a disaster area as result.
Thunderstorms along a nearly stationary front produced periods of heavy rain of 3.00 to 5.00 inches during a three hour period during the mid-afternoon of April 26th in central and eastern Edgar County, including the city of Paris. Many roads along and five north of U.S. Route 150 were closed between Paris and the Illinois/Indiana state line, where the water was up to three feet deep. A basement wall in a Paris home collapsed due to the water. The flooding rapidly subsided by the evening.
A tornado touched down 1.7 miles northeast of Chrisman at 659 PM CST. It traveled northeastward, tearing the roof off a house, destroying two pole barns, and damaging a garage. The tornado dissipated 2.8 miles northeast of Chrisman at 701 PM CST.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
16,535
Population (ACS)
$97K
Median home value
9
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 2023 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 26, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Mar 17, 2011 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Jun 24, 2008 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 7, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Edgar County, Illinois?
297 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $3.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Edgar County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 148 recorded events — 49.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Edgar County?
35 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 30 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Edgar County?
9 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Edgar County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Edgar County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Edgar County as very low risk, placing it in the 35 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Edgar 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
- DuPage County 970
- Edwards County 149
- Douglas County 266
- Effingham County 378
- De Witt County 259
- Fayette County 264
Cite this page
“Edgar County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/edgar-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.