Tornadoes · United States · Illinois

1967 tornadoes in Illinois

40 tornadoes touched down in Illinois in 1967, about the average of the record for the state. They killed 59 people and injured 1,077. 3 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1966 1968 The whole country in 1967

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Illinois in 1967

January 24 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 244:40 PM GMT-6F2Henderson5.777$5,000 to $50,000
January 245:30 PM GMT-6F3Carroll7.47712$50,000 to $500,000
January 245:30 PM GMT-6F1Mason4.5301
January 245:30 PM GMT-6F3Mason5.18013$5,000 to $50,000
January 246:30 PM GMT-6F2Woodford3.377$500 to $5,000
January 246:50 PM GMT-6F2Macoupin2.5100$50,000 to $500,000
January 246:50 PM GMT-6F2McLean2.573$5,000 to $50,000
January 248:40 PM GMT-6F2Champaign10.4505$5,000 to $50,000

March 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 314:30 PM GMT-6F1Fulton5.2100$5,000 to $50,000

April 21 18 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 213:30 PM GMT-6F1Whiteside0.330$500 to $5,000
April 213:35 PM GMT-6F2Henry25.1300$50,000 to $500,000
April 213:50 PM GMT-6F2Henry4.5300$5,000 to $50,000
April 213:50 PM GMT-6F4Boone25.51,20024450$50,000 to $500,000
April 214:00 PM GMT-6F1Ogle1.013$5,000 to $50,000
April 214:02 PM GMT-6F2Lee5.677$5,000 to $50,000
April 214:15 PM GMT-6F1Lee5.6100$50,000 to $500,000
April 214:30 PM GMT-6F1Bureau0.5150$5,000 to $50,000
April 214:30 PM GMT-6F2Putnam0.3301$500 to $5,000
April 214:40 PM GMT-6F1DeKalb2.040$5,000 to $50,000
April 215:00 PM GMT-6F4McHenry8.81501100$500,000 to $5 million
April 215:00 PM GMT-6F2Kane2.71155$500,000 to $5 million
April 215:10 PM GMT-6F2Kane0.310$50,000 to $500,000
April 215:10 PM GMT-6F1DuPage0.510$5,000 to $50,000
April 215:10 PM GMT-6F1DuPage6.820$50,000 to $500,000
April 215:24 PM GMT-6F4Cook15.020033500$5 million to $50 million
April 215:40 PM GMT-6F1Cook0.310$5,000 to $50,000
April 218:50 PM GMT-6F1Champaign0.110$500 to $5,000

May 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 77:15 PM GMT-5F1Knox1.3150$50,000 to $500,000

May 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 152:45 PM GMT-5F1Effingham0.520$500 to $5,000

May 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 165:30 PM GMT-5F1Madison0.520$500 to $5,000

June 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 106:30 PM GMT-5F1Will0.2100$5,000 to $50,000

June 11 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 111:20 PM GMT-5F2Jo Daviess4.3500$50,000 to $500,000
June 112:20 PM GMT-5F1Winnebago0.110$5,000 to $50,000

June 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 205:15 PM GMT-5F1Madison0.820$500 to $5,000

June 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 218:00 PM GMT-5F2Pulaski0.110$5,000 to $50,000

July 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 236:00 PM GMT-5F2Stark9.450$5,000 to $50,000

August 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 33:45 PM GMT-5F1Saint Clair0.567$500 to $5,000

October 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 243:15 PM GMT-5F1Crawford0.330$500 to $5,000

December 21 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 211:15 AM GMT-6F1Jersey1.5127$5,000 to $50,000
December 2110:15 AM GMT-6F2Clinton1.050$500,000 to $5 million

Crossed into Illinois

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Illinois. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 2110:45 AM GMT-6F3Perry, MO to IL29.840015$5 million to $50 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in IllinoisThe live radar over Illinois

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.