Schuyler County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 17, 2013Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 3.00 to 8.00 inches resulted in damage to hundreds of houses in the county, which included several basement walls which collapsed. Nearly every creek and stream in the county was flooded, which damaged a few bridges and culverts. Nearly every road in the county was also impassable with water one to two feet deep in spots. Several water rescues were made.

2. Mar 27, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   As thunderstorms moved through Schuyler county, they destroyed several barns and grain bins in Camden. A Camden couple sustained injuries after being struck by a tree limb while they were standing in their yard watching the storm pass. Numerous windows were blown out in Rushville and a roof was torn off of a recycling plant 5 miles east of Rushville. The winds caused the rear wall of one business to collapse and another lost its roof in Rushville. Also, numerous cars at two dealerships were damaged, 2 satellite dishes and communications antennas were torn off the roof of a radio station and a storage building was demolished. In total, approximately $1 million dollars worth of…

3. Aug 18, 1999Hail$758,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to baseball size fell, especially to the north and west of Rushville. Hundreds of cars were damaged by the hail. Numerous houses sustained roof damage and thousands of acres of corn and soybeans damaged.

4. Jul 28, 2010Flash Flood$370,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms produced copious amounts of rainfall in much of Schuyler County late in the evening of July 28th. Nearly 5.00 of rain was measured in 90 minutes which produced nearly two feet of water on many rural roads. This rainfall event, combined with the heavy rain and flooding nine days earlier, produced extensive damage to 24 box culverts and bridges in northern and eastern Schuyler County.

5. Dec 1, 2018Tornado$260,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in an open field 1.9 miles southwest of Bluff City at 3:51 PM CST. The tornado tracked northeastward and damaged a couple of outbuildings before knocking a home off its foundation and doing tree damage in Bluff City along Highway 100. It then crossed from Schuyler County into far southern Fulton County at 3:55 PM CST.

6. May 8, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms dumped up to 8 inches of rain over a 10 hour period. Numerous roads throughout the county were underwater and some sustained damage. Also, flooding was reported in several towns including Rushville, mainly some basement and street flooding. Damage to roads was estimated around $250,000. No private property damage estimate was available.

7. Jul 19, 2010Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Clusters of training thunderstorms produced excessive amounts of rainfall in Schuyler County during the late evening hours of July 19th. Rainfall rates of 2.00 per hour for more than 3 hours produced widespread flash flooding, which closed nearly every rural road and caused some road damage in northern and western parts of the county. Total rainfall accumulations reached nearly 8.00 in western Schuyler county near Camden and Huntsville. Two people suffered indirect injuries due to traffic accidents as a result of the flooded roads.

8. Apr 18, 2013Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   No homes were damaged by record levels of flooding on the Illinois River. However, thousands of acres of agricultural land and several roads adjacent to the river were damaged. The river stage at Beardstown climbed to a record level of 29.81 feet on April 27th at 01:25 local time, which was nearly 16 feet above flood stage. High impact flooding continued into the month of May 2013.

9. Aug 12, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$77,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused considerable damage in Schuyler county. Numerous trees, tree limbs, and power lines were blow down. Also, thousands of acres of corn were laid down by the winds. Crop damage was estimated around $2 million. In Rushville, one unoccupied truck was damaged when a tree fell onto it. Property damage was estimated around $77,000.

10. May 28, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several power poles were blown down along Highway 67 near Littleton.

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 14, 1954

All-time low

−22°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

83°FJul 15, 1980

Coldest day

−8°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

5.84 inJun 14, 1950

Snowiest day

10.9 inFeb 25, 1993

Hottest year

2012mean 56.7°F

Coldest year

1951mean 49.8°F

Wettest year

197366.60 in

Driest year

195320.00 in

Snowiest season

45.2 in1977-78

Station Quincy Regional Airport (USW00093989), 760 ft elevation, 35.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00093989.
• 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.