Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, March 4, 1961

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, March 4, 1961
Start: 1961-03-04T16:20
End: 1961-03-04T18:15
Location: Illinois

March 4, 1961 · 8 events in 7 counties and zones

4 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 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

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 116
Property damage: $26 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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

4 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Jersey

When: March 4, 4:20 PM CST
Where: Jersey County
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Coordinates: 39.200, -90.280

Tornado, McLean

When: March 4, 4:30 PM CST
Where: McLean County
Rating: F1
Path length: 9.3 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 40.450, -88.630

Thunderstorm Wind, Logan

When: March 4, 4:35 PM CST
Where: Logan County
Coordinates: 40.200, -89.580

Tornado, Ford

When: March 4, 4:40 PM CST
Where: Ford County
Rating: F1
Path length: 42.2 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 40.470, -88.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Piatt

When: March 4, 4:55 PM CST
Where: Piatt County
Coordinates: 40.000, -88.500

Tornado, Cook

When: March 4, 5:04 PM CST
Where: Cook County
Rating: F2
Path length: 7.9 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 115 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25 million
Coordinates: 41.900, -87.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Ford

When: March 4, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Ford County
Coordinates: 40.500, -88.000

Tornado, Champaign

When: March 4, 6:15 PM CST
Where: Champaign County
Rating: F0
Path length: 6.2 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 40.080, -88.170

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Cook	1961-03-04				Direct

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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

Every storm in Illinois in 1961 Every state in 1961 This day in weather history The 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: 10011016, 10011017, 10011018, 10011019, 10007399, 10007400, 10007610, 10007611.