Knox County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 18, 2013Flash Flood$39.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 4.00 to 8.00 inches resulted in damage to thousands of houses and businesses in the county, including several in the cities of Galesburg and Knoxville. Every creek and stream in the county was flooded. Nearly every road in the county was impassable, and several water rescues were made. This rainfall lead to record or near record flooding on the Spoon River from April 18th through the 24th.

2. Jun 29, 1998Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 3.5 miles southwest of Williamsfield. It destroyed a steel corn crib, blew down a large tree which damaged a home. Also, several windows were blown out on the home. As the tornado travelled east it caused major tree damage for a mile. Then it blew a large tree onto another home and destroyed an empty silo. Next it destroyed a barn and two outbuildings, knocked yet another tree onto a home, as well as, breaking several windows and blowing several 2x4s into the home. Further down the road, the roof and east walls of two homes were destroyed. Then for the last half of a mile, ten power poles were blown down, as well as, numerous trees and a barn sustained…

3. May 28, 2013Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms with torrential rainfall produced nearly 3.00 inches of rain in just one hour. Due to the already saturated ground, much of this additional rainfall rapidly caused flash flooding in the northern half of Knox County. The city of Galesburg was impacted the greatest. Rapidly rising water on many city streets led to at least 30 stranded motorists and one water rescue. Water flooded parts of Carl Sandburg College as well, causing nearly $300,000 in damage to flooring, furniture, and equipment. Numerous homes and businesses also sustained considerable flood damage.|Nearly all rural roads in the northern half of Knox County were closed due to the flooding.

4. Jun 29, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large bow echo system developed over eastern Iowa and moved rapidly to the southeast into Illinois. It moved into Central Illinois's County Warning Area (CWA) around 4 pm in Knox County and exited the CWA (Lawrence County) around 830 pm. Damage was reported in all 35 counties with this system. The overall general area of wind damage was produced by the passage of the bow echo's "gust front" on the leading edge of the line of thunderstorms. Wind speeds were measured or estimated to be between 60 to 80 mph, blowing down or uprooting thousands of trees, tree limbs, power poles, and power lines. Hundreds of trees fell onto structures causing damage ranging from just torn guttering…

5. Aug 23, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of wind damage cut through Knox county. The winds produced considerable tree, power line, and crop damage. Numerous structures were also damaged along the path, primarily due to falling trees and tree limbs. A man was killed in the Victoria area by a falling tree. Seven injuries were reported in the Galesburg area due to the storm, at least one due to a falling tree.

6. Jun 5, 2010Tornado$420,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 4.5 miles west-northwest of Yates City in eastern Knox County then tracked southeastward to the Knox-Peoria County line. Large tree limbs were snapped and crops were scoured in numerous places along this path. A house had the roof torn off and much of the upper level of the structure severely damaged. The attached garage was also destroyed. In addition, a large garage was destroyed, and seven outbuildings were severely damaged. The tornado continued southeastward into Peoria County.

7. Dec 28, 2015Ice Storm, Knox$375,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Weather observers across Knox County reported ice accumulations of 0.25 to 0.30. This amount of ice combined with winds gusting as high as 40 to 50 mph caused extensive damage to trees, power poles, and power lines. Several homes were damaged by falling trees and tree branches. About 20,000 people lost power for up to 3 days after the storm.

8. Jun 18, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees were blown down, including some up to 3-feet in diameter. Several homes and buildings were damaged by falling trees and limbs.

9. Feb 1, 2011Blizzard, Knox$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Weather observers across Knox County measured 15 to 20 inches of snow, with the total for Galesburg coming in at 15 inches. Thundersnow was reported from 1800 to 1900 LST on 2/1/11. 45 to 55 mph winds accompanied the snow, reducing the visibility to near zero. As a result of the blizzard conditions, travel became nearly impossible across the area.

10. Jun 18, 2021Tornado$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado touched down 3.5 miles east-southeast of Abingdon at 11:50 PM CDT. The tornado tracked southeastward, flattening crops and knocking down numerous trees along its path. Significant damage occurred to several farm outbuildings along County Road 850 East north of County Highway 39, with debris being strewn southeastward for over a half mile. The tornado lifted about 0.5 miles west of Rapatee just north of the Fulton County line at 12:05 AM CDT.

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 15, 1936

All-time low

−28°FFeb 13, 1905

Warmest night

84°FJul 27, 1936

Coldest day

−12°F2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1996

Wettest day

7.70 inSep 8, 1927

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 2, 2011

Hottest year

2006mean 54.4°F

Coldest year

2014mean 46.7°F

Wettest year

200954.27 in

Driest year

198824.02 in

Snowiest season

49.5 in1959-60

Station Galesburg (USC00113320), 761 ft elevation, 3.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 27, 2026; 98.3% 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 USC00113320.
• 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.