Illinois

Storms in Illinois in 1972

101 events in 30 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in Illinois in 1972, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. Before 1996 the record holds tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, without narratives; floods, heat, winter storms and the other kinds begin in 1996.

Illinois in 1972 on the map

Every episode with a place to put it, colored by kind of event.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over Illinois

The year

Events
101
Deaths
5
Injuries
70
Damage
$17 million
Episodes
30

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.

By kind of event

Kind of eventEventsDeathsInjuriesDamage
Tornado36570$17 million
Hail3300
Thunderstorm Wind3200

Every episode, month by month

March 1972

April 1972

May 1972

June 1972

July 1972

August 1972

September 1972

More

Every year in IllinoisEvery state in 1972Tornadoes in Illinois in 197219711973

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.