Springfield

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.

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 Sangamon County, the county that contains Springfield.

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.

River crests

River gauges in Sangamon County, the county that contains Springfield.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Sangamon County, the county that contains Springfield.

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. Aug 28, 2014Flash Flood$11.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall amounts of 2.50 to 5.10 inches fell on the Springfield Metro area in less than two hours during the evening of August 28th. Multiple viaducts were flooded in Springfield, streets were inundated with water at least 2 feet deep, vehicles were stranded and parts of Interstates 72 and 55 were closed. Nearly 250 water rescues were performed by the Springfield Fire Department for stranded motorists. No injuries were reported.

2. Aug 19, 2009Tornado$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down on the west side of Williamsville, just west of I-55, at 319 PM CST. It destroyed an antique mall, damaged the Casey's gas station building and collapsed the canopy over the gas pumps. One person was injured at the mall, while 2 motorcyclists were injured when they were thrown from their bikes. The tornado moved northeast through Williamsville and hit a church, throwing a 2-horse trailer onto the roof and collapsing the roof over half of the building. One person inside the church was injured. The tornado continued through the northern portion of town, causing damage to numerous trees and several homes. Two homes lost their roof and several others lost a…

3. May 26, 2010Flash Flood$9.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A nearly stationary thunderstorm produced around 4.50 inches of rain in 90 minutes over the city of Springfield just before the evening rush hour. The downtown suffered major impacts with extensive flooding of streets and up to 7 feet of water under viaducts. Most streets were impassable, which resulted in more than 200 stranded vehicles. Nearly 650 homes and businesses sustained flood damage. Several people had to be rescued from the their flooded autos, but there were no injuries or fatalities.

4. May 27, 2002Hail$9.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail fell for 20 minutes in Aurburn causing widespread damage. Many cars sustained hail damage, as well as, damage to windows, roofs, and siding on numerous homes. Damage was estimated around 9 million dollars.

5. Aug 19, 2009Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado crossed into Sangamon County from Morgan County at 151 PM CST, then continued northeastward through the town of Loami before lifting 1.5 miles northwest of Chatham at 208 PM CST. In Loami, 13 homes were destroyed and 19 homes were severely damaged. In addition, the tornado produced damage to several homes, farm machinery sheds, trees, and crops along the remainder of its path. Three people sustained minor injuries from flying or falling debris in Loami.

6. Dec 1, 2006Winter Storm, Sangamon$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Declared state and federal disaster area. Snow accumulation of 5 to 7 inches fell on top of significant ice accumulation.

7. Feb 11, 2009High Wind, Sangamon$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds blew a road construction sign onto a vehicle in Springfield.

8. Jun 17, 2011Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding of historic proportions occurred in western Sangamon County from late in the evening of June 17th through much of June 18th. Rainfall amounts of 5.00 to 9.00 were reported, with the highest totals along the boder with Morgan County. The nearly stationary thunderstorms produced a majority of the rain between 2200 LST and 0300 LST. ||Every rural road and state highway in western Sangamon County was water covered and closed. Streets and about 300 homes in the towns of New Berlin and Loami, as well as numerous farms in west central parts of the county, were severely flooded. Around 22,000 acres of farmland also sustained significant flooding.||Property and business…

9. Aug 12, 2016Flash Flood$2.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall during the early evening in Sangamon County and the western half of Springfield with 2.50 to 6.00 inches in less than three hours. Some locations reported more than 3.00 inches of rain between 1700 and 1800 CST. Numerous city streets in Springfield were closed due to the flooding, including all of the roads in the vicinity of the Illinois State Fairgrounds where the annual State Fair was starting. A total of 58 camper trailers and 25 vehicles were damaged on the State Fairgrounds, where nearly 50 people were rescued in the camping area. No injuries were reported. Many livestock buildings were flooded, the Grandstand concert was…

10. Jul 27, 2012Wildfire, Sangamon$2.1 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A wildfire burned 350 acres of grassland near Rochester in Sangamon County on July 27th. While the exact cause of the fire is unknown, it was likely aided by very dry conditions and northwesterly winds gusting to 25 mph. No injuries were reported: however, a barn was destroyed by the fire, a small shed was damaged and several pieces of fire fighting equipment were severly damaged or destroyed.

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

112°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−24°FFeb 13, 1905

Warmest night

84°F3 times, most recently Jul 26, 1936

Coldest day

−11°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

5.59 inAug 12, 2016

Snowiest day

17.0 inMar 24, 2013

Hottest year

1931mean 57.5°F

Coldest year

1917mean 50.3°F

Wettest year

192654.48 in

Driest year

191422.76 in

Snowiest season

52.1 in1977-78

Station Springfield Abraham Lincoln Ca (USW00093822), 590 ft elevation, 4.3 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1901 to October 27, 2026; 99.9% 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 Sangamon 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 USW00093822.
• 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.