Iroquois County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Iroquois County: 0.
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 large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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

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.

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. Jan 8, 2008Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain which fell onto saturated and frozen ground on January 8th caused widespread and significant flooding across much of Iroquois County. The county was declared a disaster area and over 600 residents had to be evacuated. Many homes and businesses were flooded as well as hundreds of roads that were flooded and closed. Storm total rainfall included 3.27 inches in Milford and 3.10 inches in Watseka.

2. Feb 20, 2018Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred along the Iroquois River. The river crested at 26.06 feet at Iroquois on February 22nd, which was the second highest crest on record. Flood stage at Iroquois is 18 feet and major stage is 25 feet. The river crested at 20.59 feet at Chebanse on February 24th, which was also the second highest crest on record. Flood stage at Chebanse is 16 feet and major stage is 20 feet.||In the city of Watseka, over 100 homes suffered some kind of water damage from the flooding. Businesses and ground floor apartments were also flooded. Numerous roads were closed. Some residents had to be rescued by boats. The emergency manager said this flooding was likely the worst the city has seen.

3. Feb 4, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding was reported across much of Iroquois County. Many roads were flooded with two feet of water flowing across some roadways. Watseka measured 2.25 inches of rainfall and Milford measured 1.81 inches. Many homes and basements were flooded in Watseka.

4. Sep 14, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Milford, the Route 1 viaduct was flooded and closed. In Cissna Park, widespread flooding was reported with numerous flooded and closed roads. Some people were evacuated from their homes. Significant flooding was also reported in Watseka.

5. Jul 27, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two miles of high tension power lines and 31 utility poles were blown down along Interstate 57 near mile marker 284. Interstate 57 was closed for several hours. Corn fields were also flattened.

6. Apr 14, 2006Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail as large as tennis balls fell in Milford which cracked windshields, dented cars and broke windows. A bank received substantial damage to the roof with the breaking of 32 sky lights.

7. Jul 20, 2005Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning bolt struck a house and caused significant damage to the house and its contents. No one was injured.

8. May 13, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two sheds were destroyed by strong winds.

9. Jun 21, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power poles were blown down along Route 24. A warehouse received extensive damage on one end and a farm building also was slightly damaged.

10. Aug 19, 2009Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado touched down along County Road 2100 East, north of the intersection of County Roads 2100 North and 2100 East. The initial touchdown was in a corn field where the corn was laid down in a convergent pattern. At this location, the tornado was approximately 20 yards wide. The tornado then crossed County Road 2100 North where it caused damage to trees and a small corn silo next to a farm house. Just behind this farm house, several large trees were broken near their base with one tree uprooted. Most of these trees were around three feet in diameter. Some internal rot was noted in a few of the trees making them more susceptible to wind damage. The tornado then appears to have…

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

111°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−25°FFeb 13, 1905

Warmest night

81°FAug 4, 1930

Coldest day

−10°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

6.24 inAug 18, 2002

Snowiest day

12.3 inFeb 15, 1908

Hottest year

1921mean 56.0°F

Coldest year

1924mean 49.0°F

Wettest year

200455.68 in

Driest year

198624.28 in

Snowiest season

77.2 in1903-04

Station Hoopeston (USC00114198), 710 ft elevation, 22.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1902 to October 26, 2026; 97.8% 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.

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 USC00114198.
• 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.