Tornadoes · United States · Illinois

Tornadoes in Greene County, Illinois

22 tornadoes have crossed Greene County since 1950, 76th of the 102 counties in Illinois with a tornado on record, an average of one every 3.5 years. They have killed 0 people and injured 38. None was rated F4 or above.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale

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

  2. F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale

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

  3. F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale

    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. F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale

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

  5. F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale

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

  6. F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale

    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.

Now

Tornadoes
22
Deaths
0
Injuries
38
F4 and above
0
Worst on record
F3, May 1, 1983

The strongest

Every year with a tornado

The 16 years of the 76 in the record with a tornado in Greene County. Each year links to every tornado in Illinois that year.

YearTornadoesDeathsInjuriesStrongest
20241Unrated
20212EF2
20181EF0
20151EF1
20121EF0
20092EF1
2006322F2
19991F1
19952F1
19881F2
1983115F3
19751F2
19701F1
19621F1
19602F1
195211F1

Every tornado that crossed Greene County

22 tornadoes, newest first. 1 of them touched down in a neighboring state and ran in, so the record files it under that state rather than Illinois.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 18, 20244:51 PM CDTUnratedGreene4.310
October 11, 20212:37 PM CDTEF2Greene5.875$100,000
June 26, 20211:26 PM CDTUnratedGreene0.125
May 15, 20186:21 PM CDTEF0Greene0.950
May 29, 201511:20 PM CDTEF1Greene4.7200
August 31, 20123:27 PM CDTEF0Greene1.460
August 19, 20092:10 PM CDTEF1Scott15.1250$395,000
March 8, 200911:10 AM CDTEF1Greene4.8352
March 12, 20067:25 PM CSTF1Greene11.875
March 12, 20067:20 PM CSTF1Greene3.51002
March 12, 20067:04 PM CSTF2Calhoun67.088020
February 11, 19992:19 PM CSTF1Greene1.450$80,000
July 25, 19958:40 PM CDTF0Greene2.2123$50 to $500
May 27, 19956:15 PM CDTF1Greene8.0120$5,000 to $50,000
November 15, 19889:30 PM CSTF2Greene0.150$50,000 to $500,000
May 1, 19835:30 PM CDTF3Greene4.07715$500,000 to $5 million
May 20, 197511:30 PM CDTF2Greene0.110$50,000 to $500,000
June 1, 19706:35 PM CDTF1Saint Louis to IL5.750$5,000 to $50,000
April 30, 196212:30 PM GMT-5F1Greene5.2100$5,000 to $50,000
May 20, 19608:40 PM GMT-5F0Greene0.130$500 to $5,000
May 6, 19602:05 PM GMT-5F1Greene43.550$50,000 to $500,000
March 18, 19526:07 PM GMT-6F1Greene3.0101$5,000 to $50,000

Nearby

Warnings in force in Greene CountyThe forecast for Greene CountyThe live radar over Greene CountyEvery county in 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.