Washington County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Aug 27, 2014Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a church in Hoyleton, Illinois at approximately midnight. The fire smoldered in the rafters for several hours before erupting into flames. The fire department was not called til around 2 am. Most of the damage was confined to the attic and bell tower, rest of the building sustained major water damage. No one was in building at the time and no injuries were reported. The building is considered a total loss.

2. Apr 7, 2000Hail$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to golfball size fell across parts of northeast Washington County causing widspread damage to vehicles, roofs and building siding. A automobile dealership in Okawville suffered an estimated $70,000 in damage to the vehicles on the lot.

3. Jul 26, 2022Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 7 inches of rain fell between a 6 and 10 hour period causing widespread flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded. In Nashville, the secondary dam on the Nashville City Reservoir sustained a 6 foot wide breach due to the heavy rainfall. The water from the secondary dam flowed south flooding Illinois Route 15 on the east side of town. No homes were affected, but a couple of businesses had water surrounding them. The nearby Nashville Memorial Park baseball fields were flooded due to the dam breach.

4. Apr 15, 1998Tornado$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small tornado destroyed a barn, a couple of other farm buildings, and downed trees in the Hoyleton area.

5. May 19, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds uprooted a large tree in Addieville. In Nashville, numerous tree limbs were blown down around town, as well as several power lines. Also, a small shed was destroyed.

6. May 8, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Power lines were knocked over in Hoyleton. The fire chief reported trees down and the entire town without power.

7. Aug 26, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts downed trees and powerlines in Nashville. A garage was damaged when a large tree limb fell through the roof.

8. Jun 17, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds destroyed a large shed and scattered the debris across the road.

9. Oct 24, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst winds blew a vehicle off of the roadway in New Minden. No injuries were reported. Also, several large tree limbs were blown down in the area.

10. Feb 22, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$3,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree in town.

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

110°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−27°FJan 17, 1977

Warmest night

88°F2 times, most recently May 19, 1996

Coldest day

−4°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

8.15 inJun 15, 1957

Snowiest day

14.8 inJan 31, 1982

Hottest year

2012mean 60.6°F

Coldest year

1979mean 53.1°F

Wettest year

200856.83 in

Driest year

195320.56 in

Snowiest season

36.6 in1981-82

Station Belleville Siu Rsch (USW00013802), 450 ft elevation, 26.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 23, 2026; 97.7% 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 USW00013802.
• 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.