Marion County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Marion County: 2.
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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 19, 1996Tornado$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Marion County was declared a Federal Disaster Area as a tornado, reaching F2 strength at its peak, created a 20 mile path of destruction from south of Odin to east of Salem. The bulk of the damage occurred on the south side of the city of Salem. The tornado moved through the county Fairgrounds, destroying numerous buildings and ripping the roofs off others. Two 2-ton trucks were turned 180 degrees by the tornado. Red Cross damage assessment teams determined that 6 mobile homes and 2 homes were destroyed in the Marion area. Another 46 homes and mobile homes were damaged. At least 23 businesses in Marion were damaged, 17 in one shopping center. Power was out to over 4000 residents.…

2. Mar 31, 2023Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 8:11 PM CDT, a tornado touched down to the southwest of Salem, IL, near the intersection of Selmaville Rd and Lowery Ln. There it damaged several trees before moving through a forested area. The tornado then moved through a neighborhood, resulting in more tree damage, roofing and siding damage to a number of homes, and the collapse of a newly built large garage. Next, the tornado intensified as it moved through the southern portion of Salem, IL, damaging several homes, businesses, and numerous trees. This includes significant damage to the roof and walls of a commercial building and a home that was shifted off of its foundation. The tornado continued east of town, moving…

3. May 27, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Salem Emergency Management reported trees and power lines down across much of Salem. An estimated 100 trees were downed by the storm, many falling on homes and automobiles. The Franklin Park Elementary School also suffered roof damage.

4. Jun 17, 2026Strong Wind, Marion$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Non-convective winds snapped a power pole in Sandoval. The wires landed on a church, burning the structure to the ground. Ignition time not certain. These winds also blew over multiple powerlines in Centralia.

5. Mar 14, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds knocked a tree on a home, trapping two residents in the house.

6. May 18, 2026Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain of up to 7 inches resulted in street flooding due to persistent rainfall. Cars were reportedly stalled all over town.

7. Apr 4, 2025Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Town Creek in Salem rose rapidly due to heavy rain and was level with Eastlawn Cemetery and Tully Park. The emergency manager in Salem issued a voluntary evacuation of Starlight Mobile Home Park, which occurs anytime flooding conditions of this scale are present. A majority of main routes in and out of Salem were inundated with water and closed with cars floating in the floodwater down West Main Street. The reservoir overflow channel was topped and water flowed into the town park and inundated homes to its south. In Centralia, 4 to 5 fete of water covered Locust Street near a major production facility. Heavy rains of up to 8.5 inches fell during the event.

8. Feb 27, 1999Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golfball size hail broke some windows at a car dealership in Salem. A few mobile homes at a mobile home park also suffered minor wind damage.

9. Apr 19, 1996Tornado$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in extreme east Marion County, destroying one farm house, a barn and several other farm buildings. Trees and power lines were also downed. The tornado then crossed the Clay County line and continued for another 2 miles.

10. Apr 15, 1998Tornado$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado which formed in Jefferson County near Cravat moved northeast into Marion County at Walnut Hill. Witnesses who saw the tornado noted a twin structure; two vortices very close to one another. Three homes suffered exterior wall or roof damage while five barns/farm implement buildings were destroyed. Trees were also uprooted.

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jul 8, 2012

All-time low

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

Warmest night

82°FJul 26, 2012

Coldest day

−4°FJan 7, 2014

Wettest day

6.36 inSep 9, 2018

Snowiest day

13.5 inJan 31, 1982

Hottest year

1991mean 58.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 52.1°F

Wettest year

201962.84 in

Driest year

195326.79 in

Snowiest season

36.3 in1929-30

Station Salem (USC00117636), 550 ft elevation, 5.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1932 to October 27, 2026; 99.1% 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 USC00117636.
• 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.