Tornado, Adams
- When
- July 21, 2:15 PM CST
- Where
- Adams County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 77.3 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 39.930, -91.420
Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Illinois, July 21, 1961
6 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $553,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
6 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Morgan
- When
- July 21, 2:40 PM CST
- Where
- Morgan County
- Rating
- F0
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Coordinates
- 39.780, -90.170
Tornado, La Salle
- When
- July 21, 4:15 PM CST
- Where
- La Salle County
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 2 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 41.250, -88.830
Tornado, Knox
- When
- July 21, 4:15 PM CST
- Where
- Knox County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 70.1 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 40.720, -90.370
Thunderstorm Wind, Tazewell
- When
- July 21, 4:40 PM CST
- Where
- Tazewell County
- Coordinates
- 40.580, -89.580
Tornado, Vermilion
- When
- July 21, 5:20 PM CST
- Where
- Vermilion County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 3.6 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 40.270, -87.620
Tornado, Vermilion
- When
- July 21, 6:25 PM CST
- Where
- Vermilion County
- Rating
- F1
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 40.100, -87.700
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes in Indiana, July 21, 1961
- Tornado in Massachusetts, July 21, 1961
- Tornadoes in Texas, July 21, 1961
- Tornado in New Hampshire, July 21, 1961
- Tornado in Vermont, July 21, 1961
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 21, 1961
- Damaging Wind in Maine, July 21, 1961
- Damaging Wind in New Mexico, July 21, 1961
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 21, 1961
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1961Every state in 1961This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 1961
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10007674, 10007675, 10007676, 10007677, 10008535, 10008536, 10008746.