Shelby County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Shelby County: 6.
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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 16, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees were uprooted in the town of Windsor. Several trees and large branches damaged about 200 house roofs in town. The strong wind also blew shingles off of many houses. One house on the west side of town was pushed several inches off of its foundation. Power poles snapped, power lines were knocked down and a few flag poles were bent.

2. Jun 1, 1999Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down on the east side of Lake Pana in Shelby County. Four homes and one mobile home were destroyed. A woman in the mobile home was injured and hospitalised for a time. A mile northeast near Route 16, several more homes were damaged or destroyed and two people in one of the destroyed homes were injured. Debris was scattered in the nearby fields. For the next four miles, several homes sustained moderate damage, numerous outbuildings and grain bins were either damaged or destroyed, and one woman sustained minor cuts and bruises. As the tornado moved to the northeast into the Westervelt area, numerous trees were blown down, buildings sustained minor damage, and 9…

3. Dec 27, 2015Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An extended period of heavy rain during the evening of December 26th in Shelby County combined with an already saturated ground to produce flash flooding. Rainfall amounts ranged from 3.65 to 5.20 inches in less than six hours, with the heaviest rain in the western half of the county. Most rural roads and state highways were flooded and impassable. City streets in Shelbyville were also flooded. The flooding continued through all of December 27th. Additional rainfall of 1.75 to 3.75 from December 28th into the 29th aggravated the flooding situation significantly. The towns of Windsor, Tower Hill, Oconee and Shelbyville had the most flood damage to roads and basements. Every road in…

4. Feb 28, 2017Hail$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An unseasonably warm and humid airmass was in place across central Illinois on February 28th...with afternoon high temperatures soaring to record levels in the upper 60s and lower 70s. Thanks to these extremely warm temperatures and dewpoints surging into the upper 50s and lower 60s, Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) values exceeded 1500J/kg across Missouri and the western half of Illinois by late afternoon. In addition, a strong mid-level jet streak enhanced 0-6km wind shear to an impressive 60-70kt. While the airmass within the warm sector was initially capped, an approaching upper wave helped weaken the cap and set the stage for strong to severe thunderstorms into…

5. Dec 1, 2006Winter Storm, Shelby$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Declared state and federal disaster area. Snow accumulation around 1 inch fell on top of significant ice accumulation.

6. Feb 1, 2011Winter Storm, Shelby$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Weather observers across Shelby County measured 1 to 2 inches of sleet along with one half to three quarters of an inch of ice. The heavy glaze of ice downed tree limbs and power lines, causing widespread power outages across the county. Snow-covered and icy roads resulted in numerous traffic accidents.

7. Jun 28, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A downburst impacted Stewardson. Numerous trees were blown down across town. Many of the trees fell onto and damaged houses, cars, and sheds. The roofs of a mobile home and an old garage were torn off. Several small metal sheds were destroyed and some houses had minor siding damage. The flag pole at the fire department was bent back.

8. Oct 13, 2014Tornado$235,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 3.4 miles east of Moweaqua along county road 1000E between county roads 2800N and 2900N at 3:54 PM CDT. Two machine sheds were destroyed and several trees were broken at this location. As the tornado tracked northward, it struck a farmstead along the Shelby/Macon county line just east of county road 1000E. The house sustained major damage to its roof and windows on the south side of the building, with significant damage to an attached garage. Several trees were snapped and outbuildings were destroyed before the tornado crossed into southern Macon County at 3:56 PM CDT.

9. Jul 19, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$225,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst winds caused widespread damage in and around the town of Findlay. A marine storage facility on the west side of town had 16 aluminum doors blown in on the west side of the building. Numerous trees were damaged and several homes sustained minor roof damage. A large cell tower one mile east of Findlay was blown down.

10. Jan 13, 2005Flash Flood$165,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Illinois Route 128 had water flowing across it.

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°FJun 25, 1988

All-time low

−21°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1985

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jul 26, 2012

Coldest day

−6°FJan 16, 1982

Wettest day

5.20 inJul 28, 1979

Snowiest day

7.0 in3 times, most recently Feb 21, 2015

Hottest year

2012mean 57.2°F

Coldest year

2014mean 50.5°F

Wettest year

201952.83 in

Driest year

202329.84 in

Snowiest season

21.6 in2025-26

Station Shelbyville Dam (USC00117876), 650 ft elevation, 1.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1973 to October 27, 2026; 92.1% 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 USC00117876.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.