Edwards County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Edwards County: 1.
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.

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

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Apr 19, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread major damage occurred across the county. An insurance agent reported over 450 claims to his office alone. The 100-foot tall steeple of an old historic church in West Salem was toppled. The steeple punctured a hole in the roof as it fell. A house in West Salem suffered major damage when a large oak tree fell on it. West Salem firefighters worked through the following day to clear streets of downed trees. Elsewhere in northern Edwards County, a house was partially unroofed. Trees were uprooted, and power lines were down. Numerous grain bins, machine sheds, and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed.

2. May 3, 1996Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball size hail dented some vehicles beyond repair. Some windshields were broken. Area homes suffered mainly roof and siding damage. Just about every unprotected vehicle in Albion suffered at least minimal hail damage.

3. Nov 17, 2013Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado crossed into Edwards County from Wayne County. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. A new addition to a house was destroyed. An attached garage was destroyed, with two vehicles turned 180 degrees. Two 100-year-old barns were totally destroyed. Several 100-year-old trees were snapped or uprooted. Other residences in the area sustained minor damage. The estimated peak winds in this tornado were 130 mph. The maximum intensity was attained just west of Illinois Route 130, almost due north of Albion. A second shorter track EF-2 tornado occurred simultaneously just south of this tornado. Both tornadoes were witnessed on the ground at the same time. This tornado was…

4. Oct 24, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms produced damaging winds countywide. The most severe damage appeared to be in southern parts of the county, between Grayville and Albion. Just northwest of Grayville, a residence was partially unroofed, the front porch was blown away, and a nearby shed was destroyed. At a nearby farm, another shed was destroyed, and a pickup truck was blown over. At a farm southwest of Albion, a grain bin was blown into a pond, and an equipment barn was destroyed. Power poles were broken 1 mile south of Browns and near the Richland County line. Along Illinois Route 130, about 10 utility poles were blown down, blocking the highway at the Richland County line. In West Salem,…

5. Apr 2, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 157-year-old wooden church in Samsville suffered severe wind damage. Much of the structure collapsed, while a few exterior walls remained partially standing. Most of the interior contents were destroyed, except for those in the basement. Elsewhere to the north of Albion, a large machine shed, several other sheds, and barns were heavily damaged or destroyed. At least two vehicles and a trailer were demolished by a large tree north of Albion. Widespread damage to trees and power lines occurred in the northern half of the county. A house trailer was split in half by a downed tree. Around eight power poles, along with some power lines, were down across Route 130 from West Salem…

6. Nov 17, 2013Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado travelled just south of and nearly parallel to another EF-2 tornado. Two machine sheds were destroyed along with a barn. Several trees were snapped. More than one eyewitness saw both tornadoes on the ground at the same time. Peak winds were estimated near 110 mph. This tornado was spawned by the same supercell that produced the EF-2 tornado that tracked from Sims to Fairfield in Wayne County.

7. May 17, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several buildings were damaged, and numerous trees and power lines were down. At least a couple of trees landed on homes and vehicles. One tree blocked Route 15 temporarily. An office building was damaged when its brick chimney blew over and fell through the roof. At least a couple of buildings received broken windows. Another building sustained minor roof damage. The damage appeared to be greatest over northern parts of the city.

8. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Edwards$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts from 60 to nearly 70 mph caused considerable damage in southern Illinois. The low pressure center that was the remnant of Hurricane Ike raced northeast at 40 to 50 mph across Missouri and Illinois. The center passed between Carbondale and St. Louis on its way toward the northeastern states. The rapid speed of the low pressure system contributed to this high wind event.||Considerable tree damage occurred. Trees were uprooted, and very large limbs were broken. Some trees fell on homes, outbuildings, and vehicles. Fewer than a dozen homes in each county were damaged by falling trees. Others fell on commercial and public buildings. Numerous trees or limbs fell on…

9. Jul 23, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered straight-line wind damage was observed across much of the northern half of the county. Within the overall area of scattered damage, more concentrated damage was located in West Salem. In West Salem, numerous large tree limbs were broken, and a couple of trees were uprooted. Elsewhere around northern Edwards County, hundreds of tree limbs and about a half-dozen trees were blown down. Downed trees and limbs damaged a couple of homes, garages, and a pickup truck. Two barns were blown down between West Salem and Bone Gap. Several power poles were blown over. Peak winds were estimated near 80 mph. The damaging wind event continued east into Wabash County.

10. Jul 7, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees were blown down in Albion. At least eight trees were blown down on the south side of Albion. The trees ranged from one to three feet in diameter. One tree fell in a pool. Power lines were blown down. A very large tree fell into a home, producing significant damage. Another tree landed on a car.

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

113°FJul 22, 1901

All-time low

−23°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Warmest night

84°FJul 15, 1936

Coldest day

−5°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

6.76 inMay 8, 1961

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 26, 1906

Hottest year

1921mean 60.2°F

Coldest year

1978mean 53.1°F

Wettest year

201968.81 in

Driest year

190128.31 in

Snowiest season

39.8 in1911-12

Station 1 Ene Fairfield (USC00112931), 462 ft elevation, 16.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 27, 2026; 96.4% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00112931.
• 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.