Tornadoes · United States · Illinois

Tornadoes in Jo Daviess County, Illinois

22 tornadoes have crossed Jo Daviess County since 1950, 1 of them surveyed so far this year and still preliminary, 75th 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 3. 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
3
F4 and above
0
Worst on record
F3, June 19, 1993

The strongest

  1. F3, Dubuque, Jo Daviess and Grant counties, Iowa and Illinois and WisconsinJune 19, 1993F3, 14.0 mi (23 km)
  2. EF2, Jo Daviess and Stephenson counties, IllinoisJuly 15, 2024EF2, 15.4 mi (25 km)
  3. F2, Jo Daviess and Lafayette counties, Illinois and WisconsinSeptember 9, 1970F2, 14.3 mi (23 km)
  4. F2, Jo Daviess County, IllinoisJune 11, 1967F2, 4.3 mi (7 km)
  5. EF2, Jackson and Jo Daviess counties, Iowa and IllinoisJune 1, 2007EF2, 3.4 mi (6 km)

Every year with a tornado

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

YearTornadoesDeathsInjuriesStrongest
20261EF1
20243EF2
202313EF1
20201Unrated
20171EF1
20131EF0
20112EF0
20072EF2
19991F0
19951F0
19933F3
19741F0
19701F2
19671F2
19661F1
19561F1

Every tornado that crossed Jo Daviess County

22 tornadoes, newest first. 3 of them touched down in a neighboring state and ran in, so the record files them under that state rather than Illinois. The 1 at the top is this year's, from the surveying office rather than SPC's published database, and its rating is marked as preliminary.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 17, 20262:47 PM CDTEF1Jo Daviess3.7100
July 15, 20246:50 PM CDTEF2Jo Daviess15.4150
July 15, 20246:48 PM CDTEF1Jo Daviess8.150
July 15, 20246:40 PM CDTEF1Jo Daviess29.8100
March 31, 20236:16 PM CDTEF1Jackson to IL1.91003
May 23, 20204:18 PM CDTUnratedJo Daviess0.520
August 16, 20177:22 PM CDTEF1Jo Daviess0.560
June 12, 20136:50 PM CDTEF0Jo Daviess0.520
July 27, 20117:55 PM CDTEF0Jo Daviess0.517
July 27, 20117:18 PM CDTEF0Jo Daviess0.117
June 1, 20073:15 PM CDTEF0Jo Daviess0.510
June 1, 20072:28 PM CDTEF2Jackson to IL3.4350$3.3 million
May 16, 19999:00 PM CDTF0Jo Daviess0.110
July 27, 19954:30 PM CDTF0Jo Daviess0.110
September 20, 19935:00 PM CDTF0Jo Daviess0.220
June 24, 19938:07 PM CDTF0Jo Daviess0.110
June 19, 19934:42 PM CDTF3Dubuque to IL, WI14.0300$50,000 to $500,000
June 20, 19745:45 PM CDTF0Jo Daviess0.110
September 9, 19707:40 PM CDTF2Jo Daviess to WI14.370$5,000 to $50,000
June 11, 19671:20 PM GMT-5F2Jo Daviess4.3500$50,000 to $500,000
July 9, 196612:45 PM GMT-5F1Jo Daviess1.9400$50,000 to $500,000
May 16, 19566:30 PM GMT-5F1Jo Daviess3.380$5,000 to $50,000

Nearby

Warnings in force in Jo Daviess CountyThe forecast for Jo Daviess CountyThe live radar over Jo Daviess 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.