42
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
35
Direct injuries
$6.4M
Property damage
Tornado in Mason County, Illinois: 42 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #567 nationally and #28 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Mason County, Illinois: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Mason County is the 1990s, when 8 of the county's 42 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 Mason County archive, tornado makes up 15.7% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #567 for this hazard and #28 within Illinois, putting it in the 80.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Apr is the peak month for tornado in Mason County with 9 recorded events, while Feb 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.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967-01-24 | EF3 | 5.1 mi | 80 yd | Touched down here |
| 1995-05-13 | EF3 | 25.0 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 1968-05-15 | EF3 | 12.6 mi | 600 yd | Touched down here |
| 2003-05-10 | EF2 | 2.5 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1998-04-07 | EF2 | 3.0 mi | 70 yd | Touched down here |
| 1998-04-07 | EF2 | 11.0 mi | 30 yd | Crossed in |
| 1996-04-19 | EF2 | 9.0 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
| 1975-11-29 | EF2 | 18.6 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1957-03-14 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1951-11-13 | EF2 | 47.4 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 1 | 3 | $25K | |
| May 15, 1968 | F3 | 0 | 25 | $2.5M | |
| Dec 4, 1973 | F0 | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| Apr 15, 2011 | POPLAR CITY | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $300K |
| May 11, 2003 | MANITO | F2 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | BATH | F2 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $0 | |
| Dec 18, 1957 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 10, 2026 | FOREST CITY | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 10, 2026 | CHAUTAUQUA PARK | EF1 | $0 |
| Sep 20, 2025 | LUTHER | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 18, 2025 | MASON CITY | EF0 | $0 |
| Aug 1, 2022 | NATRONA | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 6, 2022 | BIGGS | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 24, 2021 | MASON CITY | EF0 | $25K |
| Dec 1, 2018 | POPLAR CITY | EF1 | $65K |
| Dec 1, 2018 | SNICARTE | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 7, 2017 | EASTON | EF1 | $150K |
Other hazards here
More from Mason County
- Thunderstorm Wind 148
- Hail 55
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado touched down in a field about 6.5 miles west-southwest of Easton at 530 PM CDT. It knocked over an irrigation unit and damaged an outbuilding before traveling north and damaging several sheds, breaking windows, tearing roofing and siding off a house, and pushing a house a few inches off its foundation. One person was injured by flying glass. The tornado then damaged another outbuilding and several trees before dissipating 7 miles west-northwest of Easton at 538 PM CDT.
A tornado touched down 2.2 miles north-northwest of Easton at 11:52 PM CST. The tornado tracked northeastward, hitting a homestead 2.5 miles north of Easton where a machine shed was severely damaged, with most of its roof removed and part of the north wall bowed out. From here to the end of the track, most of the damage was to power poles or overturned irrigation rigs: however, a farm along County Road 2930E received damage as well. A grain silo had half its peaked roof cave in, and part of a machine shed had a couple smaller wall pieces blown out. The tornado dissipated 5.5 miles southeast of Forest City at 11:57 PM CST.
A tornado touched down near the intersection of 1200N and 2250E about 4.9 miles west of Easton at 4:53 PM CST. The tornado uprooted some large trees, then progressed to the NE, causing damage to power poles and tipping over many irrigation systems before it dissipated near the intersection of 2100N and 3000E about 1.9 miles east-southeast of Forest City at 5:17 PM CST.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Mason County, Illinois?
42 tornado events are recorded in Mason County between 1951 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Mason County?
The strongest tornado on record in Mason County measured F3.
Where does the tornado data for Mason 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
“Tornado in Mason County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/mason-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.