Randolph County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 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.

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. Oct 24, 2021Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved out of Missouri (Ste. Genevieve County) into Illinois (Randolph County) moving though flood plains and crossing the Mississippi River just north of the Menard Correctional Center. The tornado crossed Route 3 south of Lochhead Drive destroying a small barn, snapping or uprooting trees, and caused minor damage to several homes and a hardware store. Snapped or uprooted trees and downed power poles were found along the remainder of the tornado track through Chester with roof damage to several homes on Brenda Street. The worst damage in Chester occurred just northeast of the Palestine Road and Three Spring Roads intersection, where two farm outbuildings were…

2. May 19, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread wind damage across Chester. Numerous trees, tree limbs, power poles and power lines were blown down around town. Also, a couple of houses sustained damage from fallen trees. Several businesses were damaged as well.

3. Mar 14, 2025Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Randolph County, most tornado damage occurred to trees. A few outbuildings did sustain significant damage to their roofs along the track. The tornado dissipated near Leanderville at approximately 11:55 PM. In Randolph County the tornado was rated EF-1 with a path length of 6.63 miles and a maximum path width of 175 yards. This is a continuation of a tornado that caused EF-1 damage in Bollinger County, MO and EF-2 damage in Perry County, MO.

4. May 19, 2025Tornado$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief tornado touched down just south of Prairie du Rocher, destroying an outbuilding before heading north-northeast. From there the tornado caused tree damage and damaged another farm outbuilding before dissipating just southwest of Route 155.

5. Apr 4, 2025Flash Flood$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused several feet of water over County Road 18, leading to a vehicle becoming submerged. The occupant was safe. Route 4 north of Sparta also had water over the roadway. During the event, up to 4.5 inches of rain fell in Randolph County.

6. Apr 21, 2002Hail$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced a swath of golf ball size hail across the county. Golf-ball size hail began along the Randolph County line near Cutler and continued east across Pinckneyville. Quarter size hail fell at Tamaroa. There were at least several homes and vehicles damaged by the hail.

7. May 19, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees onto Illinois Route 155 in Ruma. Numerous tree limbs were blown down in Baldwin. In the Sparta and Eden areas, numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down. Several buildings in Sparta sustained minor damage from fallen trees and tree limbs.

8. Apr 2, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Randolph County emergency manager reported snapped power poles and downed power lines east of Chester.

9. May 8, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused a power pole to fall across a roadway and a tree to fall on a house south of Red Bud. There was minor damage to the house. Several trees and power lines were knocked down in Sparta, and there was a tree down over a roadway near Eden. Cities in the path of the storm include Baldwin and Houston.

10. Aug 9, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trees were downed on the north side of Chester. A truck was extensively damage by a downed tree.

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°F2 times, most recently Sep 7, 1990

All-time low

−18°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

80°F3 times, most recently Aug 20, 1983

Coldest day

−1°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

8.10 inDec 28, 1990

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 25, 2026

Hottest year

1998mean 61.1°F

Coldest year

1979mean 53.1°F

Wettest year

199060.28 in

Driest year

197623.40 in

Snowiest season

32.4 in1978-79

Station Kaskaskia Rvr Navigation Lock (USC00114629), 390 ft elevation, 9.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1974 to October 27, 2026; 90.0% 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 USC00114629.
• 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.