Severe Weather History


Hazard archive · 1950 — present

Thunderstorm Wind in Union County, Illinois

93

Recorded events

1

Direct deaths

2

Direct injuries

$1.9M

Property damage

Thunderstorm Wind in Union County, Illinois: 93 recorded events between 1960 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 83. That places the county #2,292 nationally and #87 statewide for this hazard.

Decade by decade

Thunderstorm Wind in Union County, Illinois: events per decade

Thunderstorm Wind in Union County, Illinois: recorded events per decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Union County, Illinois: recorded events per decade

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Union County is the 2000s, when 28 of the county's 93 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 Union County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 40.4% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,292 for this hazard and #87 within Illinois, putting it in the 27.1 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Seasonality

Events by month

3Jan
2Feb
3Mar
7Apr
23May
10Jun
17Jul
10Aug
6Sep
5Oct
4Nov
3Dec

May is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Union County with 23 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.

Significant events

Deadliest on record

DateLocationScaleDeathsInjuriesDamage
Jul 5, 1987010$0
May 5, 1996ANNA002$50K
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC

Most recent

Latest recorded events

DateLocationMagnitudeDamage
Sep 14, 2025COBDEN52$5K
May 20, 2025MT PLEASANT70$3K
Aug 16, 2024DONGOLA65$10K
Jun 16, 2024JONESBORO56$2K
Apr 2, 2024WATER VLY70$15K
Aug 5, 2023ALTO PASS52$40K
Jul 19, 2023MILL CREEK52$1K
Jul 18, 2023JONESBORO56$10K
Jul 1, 2023DONGOLA61$30K
Jul 18, 2022WOLF LAKE52$1K
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC · recent entries may be preliminary

Other hazards here

More from Union County

County overview →

From the record

What the reports say

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

Quick answers

Frequently asked

How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Union County, Illinois?

93 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Union County between 1960 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths.

What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Union County?

The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Union County measured 83.

Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Union 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 Union County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/union-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.


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