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Hardin County, Illinois severe weather history spans 87 recorded events between 1959 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 35.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,928 nationally and #102 in Illinois.
87
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$805K
Property damage
The record
What the Hardin County, Illinois severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Hardin County, Illinois severe weather history averages 1.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 31 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 4 events fall before 1990 and 83 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flood, with $384K 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 Hardin County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 31 | 0 | $291K | 70 | 1975–2025 |
| Flood | 21 | 0 | $384K | 0 | 2008–2022 |
| Hail | 14 | 0 | $45K | 2 | 1997–2020 |
| Flash Flood | 12 | 0 | $60K | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Tornado | 4 | 0 | $25K | F1 | 1959–2016 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2015 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–1996 |
Decade by decade
Hardin County, Illinois severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
5 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 5 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-09-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-05-10 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2000-10-05 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-09 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1959-06-10 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Hardin County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 2019 | Lightning | ROSICLARE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Moderate flooding continued on the Ohio River from late February. This flood crest was about a foot lower than the March, 1997 flood. Isolated evacuations of some lowland residents were conducted. Cabins at a campground at Saline Landing were flooded, and Front Street was flooded in Elizabethtown. There was sandbagging around homes in Elizabethtown and Cave-In-Rock. Several mobile homes and trailers in Hardin County were pulled away from the water. At Rosiclare, Illinois Route 146 was closed leading into town, and water was up about 5 feet along the floodgates. The ferry connecting Cave-In-Rock with the state of Kentucky was shut down because of flooded roads on the Kentucky side.
A few dozen trees were blown down. Roads in the Cave-In-Rock State Park were blocked. At the intersection of Highways 146 and 1, a country store was heavily damaged. The front porch was destroyed, and the roof was damaged by a falling tree. The roof was blown off the porch of a nearby house. On Highway 1, a carport was blown away.
Moderate flooding of the Ohio River occurred. A portion of Illinois Route 1 was closed. There was considerable flooding of low-lying woods and fields. Rural county roads were flooded. A campground at Saline Landing was flooded, and Front Street was flooded in Elizabethtown. There was sandbagging around a few homes in Elizabethtown and Cave-In-Rock. At Rosiclare, Illinois Route 146 was closed leading into town, and water was up along a floodgate. The town of Rosiclare put up the first floodgates in the lowest sections of town. However, little or no property damage occurred in Hardin County. The ferry from Cave-In-Rock to the Kentucky shore suspended operations due to high water.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
3,605
Population (ACS)
$104K
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 |
| Jun 7, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 2, 2009 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| Sep 7, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
| Feb 1, 2005 | Snowstorm | RECORD/NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Hardin County, Illinois?
87 events are on record between 1959 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $805K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Hardin County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 31 recorded events — 35.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Hardin County?
5 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 5 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Hardin County?
8 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Hardin County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Hardin County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hardin County as very low risk, placing it in the 8 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Hardin 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
- Hancock County 510
- Henderson County 223
- Hamilton County 179
- Henry County 679
- Grundy County 345
- Iroquois County 433
Cite this page
“Hardin County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/hardin-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.