Mount Vernon

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Jefferson County, the county that contains Mount Vernon.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Jefferson County, the county that contains Mount Vernon.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 21, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$13.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread very damaging winds, estimated around 90 MPH by a National Weather Service damage surveyor, raked most of Jefferson County. The city of Mount Vernon was especially hard hit, where about 14 percent of all homes received at least minor damage. Several thousands of trees were blown down, landing on cars, power lines, roads, and houses. In the city of Mount Vernon, damage assessments indicated 1,107 homes were affected by some type of damage. 491 homes received minor damage such as roofs blown off, 152 received major damage (meaning they could be made habitable again), and 18 were destroyed. In addition, 446 other homes were affected, meaning damage was mainly cosmetic,…

2. May 25, 2011Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At least three houses lost portions of roof substructure, including roof decking. Numerous other homes sustained various degrees of shingle damage. Some houses lost siding. A total of 101 residences sustained damage, with 23 of those homes deemed uninhabitable. A folded up pop-up camper and adjacent shed were blown 50 to 75 feet. Dozens of trees and power poles were snapped. A twin-pole wooden tower carrying high-voltage power lines was leaning. The community of Boyd was directly impacted. In Boyd, a large machine shed/sawmill was destroyed. A church lost some shingles and roofing. There were numerous eyewitnesses and at least one photo of the tornado funnel. Peak winds were…

3. Mar 14, 2024Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cell merger led to a brief tornado along IL Hwy 37. Two metal buildings had much of their roofs removed, bay doors blown out, and large portions of walls removed. Several buses inside sustained significant damage from debris with 6 out of 14 buses totaled. Building material was pulverized and embedded in the ground and adjacent walls downstream of the start of the damage with other debris wrapped around nearby trees, fences, and powerlines. A nearby metal building sustained roof damage. Trees were uprooted and snapped near the start and end of the path. Peak winds were estimated near 90 mph.

4. Sep 8, 2018Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous county roads were closed due to flooding across the county. In Mount Vernon, a creek flooded a neighborhood on the north side of town. Numerous people were evacuated from their residences. A total of 45 homes were impacted and six streets were impassable. One person was taken to a hospital. The automated weather observation system at the Mount Vernon airport measured 6.91 inches in a 48-hour period.

5. Apr 15, 1998Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six houses sustained major damage in Cravat. One house was moved about 10 feet off of its foundation with the back portion of the house destroyed. One truck and some farm machinery were tossed 50 feet. Several small barns and outbuildings were destroyed. A truck driver sustained broken ribs when his tractor trailer was lifted up by the tornado. The trailer was lifted up into a vertical position before being set back down and rolling over. Several mobile homes were overturned.

6. Apr 19, 1996Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total damage was estimated around 3 million dollars. The tornado destroyed 3 homes and caused moderate to severe damage to 50 others. About 45 barns and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, along with 60 to 70 grain bins. The small community of Piopolis was nearly devastated. The intensity of the tornado was just weak (F0 or F1) during most of its life, but it briefly reached F3 intensity.

7. Feb 5, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$180,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A dozen homes sustained roof damage, such as tiles missing or trees on roofs. Thirty to 35 trees were damaged or uprooted. A small boat was blown about 200 yards, damaging a front porch and breaking a window. Numerous power lines were down.

8. Jan 24, 2026Heavy Snow, Jefferson$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm impacted southern Illinois on the 24th with light to moderate snow developing during the morning hours. After a brief lull in the evening, moderate to heavy snow developed with a second wave that continued overnight into the morning hours of the 25th. Along and south of Route 13 towards Interstate 24, a brief period of sleet had occurred as above freezing temperatures aloft advected north. Colder air wrapped around on the backside, allowing for precipitation to transition back to all snow before ending during the afternoon hours. Between 8 to 14 inches of snow and sleet was observed with the lowest totals occurring in areas that experienced mixing.…

9. Mar 23, 2012Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tied down double wide mobile home was destroyed. A elderly lady was killed and a teenage boy was injured when the mobile home was lofted by the tornado and carried approximately 100 yards to the northeast, with the mobile home undercarriage carried approximately 200 yards. One home had windows blown out on the second story. One barn was heavily damaged with 2 others receiving moderate damage. Several trees were blown down or snapped. Peak winds were estimated near 130 mph.

10. Apr 2, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    In Boyd, a small community northwest of Mount Vernon, a saw mill building collapsed, and surrounding outbuildings were destroyed. The outbuildings included a trailer and a garage. Three trees were snapped or uprooted, and a couple of utility poles were snapped. The damage was oriented from southwest to northeast. The damage path length was one-half to two-thirds of a mile. The path width was about 300 yards. A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service indicated a microburst with peak winds near 70 MPH caused the damage in Boyd. In the city of Mount Vernon, numerous trees were blown down, including three that landed on houses and one on a vehicle. Streets on the north…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

114°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−22°F2 times, most recently Feb 10, 1982

Warmest night

88°FSep 11, 1936

Coldest day

−4°F3 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Wettest day

6.17 inAug 16, 1946

Snowiest day

14.0 inFeb 21, 1912

Hottest year

1921mean 59.8°F

Coldest year

2014mean 51.9°F

Wettest year

201164.52 in

Driest year

195327.07 in

Station Mount Vernon 3 Ne (USC00115943), 490 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1895 to October 26, 2026; 92.8% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Jefferson County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00115943.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.