129
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$1.0M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Ford County, Illinois: 129 recorded events between 1961 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 70. That places the county #1,806 nationally and #69 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Ford County, Illinois: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Ford County is the 2000s, when 42 of the county's 129 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Ford County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 50.0% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,806 for this hazard and #69 within Illinois, putting it in the 42.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Ford County with 39 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 6, 1994 | Paxton | 0 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 2026 | ELLIOTT | 52 | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2026 | PAXTON | 52 | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2026 | PAXTON | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 2025 | PIPER CITY | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | PIPER CITY | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 29, 2025 | SIBLEY | 52 | $0 |
| May 20, 2025 | CLARENCE | 52 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | GIBSON CITY | 55 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | PAXTON | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | PAXTON | 55 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Ford County
- Hail 47
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Numerous trees up to two feet in diameter, tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Gibson City. Some trees and tree limbs fell onto houses. A semi tanker trailer was pushed over on its side. A large grain bin under construction was knocked off its foundation. Damage to the grain bin itself was estimated at $750,000.
Widespread damage from the west side of Paxton where small and medium size tree limbs were down to about State Road 115, 4 miles west of Paxton. Numerous large limbs were down, some large trees snapped ot uprooted. Shed roofs and doors were torn off and barns collapsed. A building was damaged at the airport west of town. Damage extended several miles north and south of State Road 9, but the worst damage appeard to be along SR 9 between County Roads 1500 and 1700.
A roof was lifted off a garage causing the collapse of a cinder block building. A chimney was toppled at St Joseph Church. A home TV antenna tower was blown over. There were sporadic uprooted trees and downed limbs throughout town.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Ford County, Illinois?
129 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Ford County between 1961 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Ford County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Ford County measured 70.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Ford County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Ford County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/ford-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.