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
Richland County, Illinois severe weather history spans 212 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 51.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,373 nationally and #88 in Illinois.
212
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
6
Direct injuries
$6.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Richland County, Illinois severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Richland County, Illinois severe weather history averages 3.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 61 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 25 events fall before 1990 and 187 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $5.7M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Richland County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 110 | 0 | $962K | 87 | 1955–2026 |
| Hail | 46 | 0 | $150 | 2 | 1982–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 32 | 0 | $46K | 0 | 1998–2022 |
| Tornado | 17 | 0 | $5.7M | F4 | 1956–2026 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2015–2017 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $62K | 0 | 2008–2008 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | — | 2026–2026 |
Decade by decade
Richland County, Illinois severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
17 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 14 touched down inside it and 3 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-06-02 | EF4 | 0 | 2 | 23.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1998-04-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 16.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1965-11-26 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-05-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1956-02-25 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 23.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-11-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1991-08-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-03-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 24.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1956-08-18 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 37.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Richland County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 27, 1965 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $25K | |
| May 31, 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | COUNTYWIDE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
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 an open field about 3.4 miles north of Noble at 5:24 pm CST. The tornado tracked to the east-northeast…damaging the roof of a house, destroying a garage, damaging a truck in the garage, and downing several trees before doing damage to the roof of a barn on Pleasant Ridge Lane at around 5:26 pm. The tornado continued to the east-northeast for another 7 minutes primarily damaging trees. The tornado dissipated at 5:33 pm CST, 3.2 miles north-northwest of Olney about one-half mile northwest of the Richland Country Club.
A lightning strike to a 60 foot tall brick chimney in downtown Olney resulted in damage to 16 autos and the roof of the building. Bricks were thrown as far as one block away. Three people were indirectly injured by falling bricks and debris. Ages and genders of the three people were not available. The three injuries were minor, and the people were treated and released at a local hospital.
A tornado touched down 2.3 miles north-northwest of Olney at 4:50 PM CDT. The tornado uprooted a few trees and knocked numerous 6 to 10-inch diameter tree branches down as it tracked northwestward through a mobile home park and a golf course off Route 130. It dissipated 2.8 miles north-northwest of Olney at 4:53 PM CDT.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
15,598
Population (ACS)
$112K
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 |
| Mar 17, 2011 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Sep 7, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
| Feb 1, 2005 | Snowstorm | RECORD/NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM |
| May 21, 2002 | Tornado | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Richland County, Illinois?
212 events are on record between 1955 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $6.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Richland County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 110 recorded events — 51.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Richland County?
17 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 14 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Richland County?
8 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Richland County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Richland County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Richland County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 47 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Richland 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
- Randolph County 426
- Rock Island County 629
- Putnam County 187
- St. Clair County 895
- Pulaski County 242
- Saline County 318
Cite this page
“Richland County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/richland-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.