Rock Island County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 21, 2003Flood, Rock Island$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th. The Cedar and Wapsipinicon Rivers followed by going above flood stage around the 15th. The Mississippi River also went above flood stage, beginning around the 20th. Most tributaries went below flood stage around the 20th, and most locations on the Mississippi that were above flood stage went below by the 28th.Most of the flooding was minor. One location-the Mississippi River at Gladstone Dam 18-experienced moderate flooding. Most…

2. Mar 15, 2016Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado tracked north then curved to the east through upper Rock Island county. An estimated 40 homes were damaged with the most severe damage to a neighborhood in rural East Moline where 10 homes were completely destroyed. Ten people reported minor injuries. The maximum wind with this tornado were estimated at 130 mph.

3. Feb 20, 1997Flash Flood$550,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains fell over the area while soils were still partially frozen. These widespread two-to-four inch rains came as area rivers and streams were running high from snowmelt from the previous week. Nearly every stream and river went out of its banks, leaving standing water for several days afterward. The single largest impact was felt along the Rock River where record flooding occurred. At Joslin the river reached a record crest of 18.77 feet. This flooding came with large ice jams and, despite massive sand-bagging efforts, the combination of high water and ice breaks broke through levees near Erie and Hillsdale. Flooding caused evacuations of several towns along the Rock River.…

4. Apr 30, 2003Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening north of a warm front that ran from Southern Iowa into Central Illinois. Three distinct supercells produced a majority of the wind, hail, and heavy rain reports from Jefferson County Iowa into Henry County Illinois. Mercer County Illinois was under tornado warnings on a continuous basis for 2 hours. Officials at a high school track meet in Aledo, Illinois ushered all students into the safety of the school resulting in no injuries. The training of the supercells from Louisa County Iowa to Henry County Illinois dumped heavy rain over the Edwards River and Pope Creek basins in Illinois with radar estimating 9 inches of…

5. Jun 12, 2008Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain resulted in flash flooding across much of Rock Island County during the evening of June 12. In Andalusia, IL, ten inches of flood waters covered all the streets in town. The town received about 3.5 inches of rain in an hour. In Moline, IL, flash flood waters about two feet deep stranded some concert goers in the parking lot of the I Wireless Center. Also, the 500 block of 1st Street and the 500 to 1100 blocks of 4th Street were closed due to sink holes. In downtown Rock Island, IL, most of the streets were flooded with the flood waters about 1 foot deep. Near Illinois City, IL, County Road 59 was washed out downhill from the Loud Thunder Forest Preserve entrance. In…

6. Jul 27, 2010Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the fourth week of July resulted in the Rock River at Moline going above the moderate flood stage level of 13 feet around 3 am CDT July 27. It crested around 14.2 feet around 1 pm CDT July 28. It remained above the moderate flood stage level through the end of the month.

7. Mar 12, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Measured gust from KMLI ASOS that was confirmed by FAA backup equipment. A Hampton Inn under construction on the northeast side of the airport was demolished and a nearby interstate highway sign was blown over.NWS survey concluded a microburst occurred on the west edge of the airport. Considerable damage was done to a group of homes, outbuildings, power lines, and trees just outside the airport perimeter. The wind gust of 107 mph bested the old record wind gust of 81 mph at KMLI which was set on 21 August 1987.

8. Jul 25, 2010Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the fourth week of July resulted in moderate flooding on the Mississippi River from Rock Island to Gregory Landing.||At Rock Island, it crested around 17.2 feet around 1 pm July 27.|At Illinois City, it crested around 17.0 feet around 7 am July 28.|At Muscatine, it crested around 18.5 feet around 1 pm July 28.|At New Boston, it crested around 18.3 feet around 1 pm July 28.|At Keithsburg, it crested around 16.9 feet around 1 am July 29.|At Gladstone, it crested around 13.6 feet around 7 am July 29.|At Burlington, it crested around 17.74 feet around 7 pm July 29.|At Keokuk, it crested around 18.2 feet around 7 pm July 29.|At Gregory Landing, it crested around…

9. Jun 22, 2009Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the middle of the month resulted in the Rock River at Joslin going above the moderate flood stage level of 14 feet on June 22nd around 12 am. It crested around 14.73 feet around 830 pm on June 23. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 5 pm June 24.

10. May 15, 2010Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rains during the second week of May resulted in moderate flooding on the Rock River.||At Joslin, the river level surpassed the moderate flood stage level of 14 feet on May 15 around 10 am. It crested around 14.5 feet around 1 pm May 16. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 1 pm May 17.||At Moline, the river level surpassed the moderate flood stage level of 13 feet on May 15 around 7 am. It crested around 13.3 feet around 7 am May 16. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 1 am May 18.

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

104°F2 times, most recently Jul 7, 2012

All-time low

−33°FJan 31, 2019

Warmest night

81°FJul 19, 2019

Coldest day

−12°F2 times, most recently Jan 18, 1994

Wettest day

6.21 inSep 13, 1961

Snowiest day

16.4 inJan 3, 1971

Hottest year

2024mean 54.3°F

Coldest year

1979mean 47.4°F

Wettest year

197356.36 in

Driest year

200517.89 in

Snowiest season

69.7 in1974-75

Station Moline Quad City International Airport (USW00014923), 576 ft elevation, 3.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1943 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014923.
• 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.