Woodford County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Woodford 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. Nov 17, 2013Tornado$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado crossed the border from Tazewell County at 11:12 AM CST, then tracked northeastward across rural Woodford County before entering into far southern LaSalle County in National Weather Service Chicago's County Warning Area (CWA) at 11:33 AM CST. It weakened a bit to EF3 intensity but remained between 1/4 and 1/2 mile wide as it crossed into Woodford County. During much of its time in Woodford County, the tornado traveled across open fields, impacting dozens of farmsteads. Nearly 70 farm buildings and 7 homes were destroyed. Major damage occurred to 17 homes, while 23 others received minor damage. About 100 vehicles were damaged, including several semi trucks at a truck…

2. Apr 19, 2013Flood$13.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 276 homes, two businesses, a fire station and numerous roads along the Illinois river in Spring Bay and Bay View Gardens were inundated, and suffered damage due to record river levels. The river stage at Peoria climbed to a record level of 29.35 feet on April 23rd at 19:30 local time, which was nearly 12 feet above flood stage. High impact flooding continued into the month of May 2013.

3. Apr 17, 2013Flash Flood$13.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall rates of 2.00 inches per hour for three to four hours produced up to 8.00 inches of rain and major flash flooding. Hundreds of homes and businesses in Roanoke, Eureka and Metamora were flooded and several water rescues had to be made. Roads near the town of Minonk were flooded with more than one foot of flowing water. Every road from the central to northeast part of the county was impassable. No injuries were reported.

4. Jul 15, 2020Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall of 5 to 7 inches brought widespread flash flooding to much of Woodford County, including the city of Roanoke, during the afternoon of July 15th. Once the rain ended, the water continued to rise and cause significant issues in Roanoke through the morning of July 16th. 71 homes and 15 businesses were flooded, including 10 homes and 5 businesses with major flooding. Several basement walls and foundations collapsed within the structures impacted by major flooding. 10 people were rescued by boat due to the high water. In addition, Route 116 was closed in and just east of Roanoke.

5. Apr 17, 2013Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall rates of 2.00 inches for two to three hours produced nearly 7.00 inches of rain in rural sections of western Woodford County. Hundreds of homes were damaged in northwest and western parts of the county. All roads were impassable and water rescues were made. No injuries were reported.

6. Jun 24, 2013Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms moving over the same areas multiple times resulted in 2.50 to 6.00 inches of rain in the western half of Woodford County during the early morning hours of June 24th. The locations that experienced the greatest impacts from the flooding included Spring Bay and Germantown Hills where streets and houses were flooded. Several state highways were impassable, including Highway 26, 89 and 116. Most of the flash flooding subsided by late morning.

7. Feb 28, 2017Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in an open field about 3.7 miles west of Washburn in extreme northern Woodford County at 5:26 PM CST. The tornado broke windows and did roof damage to a house and destroyed several outbuildings about a mile from its origin. The tornado rapidly widened to more than 1/4 mile across and increased in intensity to EF-3 as it destroyed a house about 2.5 miles west of Washburn. One mile to the east, the tornado tore the roof off a house before moving into Washburn. The tornado damaged 8 houses in town...doing significant damage to roofs, garages, automobiles, and trees before crossing into extreme southern Marshall County at 5:31 PM CST.

8. Dec 1, 2006Winter Storm, Woodford$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Declared state and federal disaster area. Snow accumulation of 6 to 12 inches fell on top of significant ice accumulation.

9. Dec 28, 2015Ice Storm, Woodford$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Weather observers across Woodford County reported ice accumulations of 0.25 to 0.30. This amount of ice combined with winds gusting as high as 40 to 50 mph caused extensive damage to trees, power poles, and power lines. Several homes were damaged by falling trees and tree branches. About 20,000 people lost power for up to 4 days after the storm.

10. Dec 18, 2008Ice Storm, Woodford$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Weather observers across Woodford County reported between one quarter and three quarters of an inch of ice, including one half inch in both Eureka and Minonk.

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

105°FJun 25, 1988

All-time low

−25°FJan 17, 1977

Warmest night

79°F7 times, most recently Aug 25, 2023

Coldest day

−11°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

5.19 inJul 15, 2020

Snowiest day

12.2 inJan 13, 1979

Hottest year

2024mean 56.1°F

Coldest year

1979mean 48.1°F

Wettest year

199055.35 in

Driest year

198822.16 in

Snowiest season

57.6 in2013-14

Station General Wayne A Downing International A (USW00014842), 655 ft elevation, 21.7 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 USW00014842.
• 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.