Tornadoes · United States · Illinois

Tornadoes in Perry County, Illinois

24 tornadoes have crossed Perry County since 1950, 68th of the 102 counties in Illinois with a tornado on record, an average of one every 3.2 years. They have killed 1 person and injured 49. 1 was rated F4 or EF4 and above, 1 at the top of the scale.

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
24
Deaths
1
Injuries
49
F4 and above
1
Worst on record
F5, December 18, 1957

The deadliest in Perry County

  1. F5 Sunfield tornado, IllinoisDecember 18, 19571 killed, 6 injured

The strongest

  1. F5 Sunfield tornado, IllinoisDecember 18, 1957F5, 5.4 mi (9 km)
  2. F3, Perry, Randolph and Perry counties, Missouri and IllinoisDecember 21, 1967F3, 29.8 mi (48 km)
  3. F3, Jackson, Perry and Franklin counties, IllinoisApril 5, 1958F3, 20.6 mi (33 km)
  4. F3, Randolph and Perry counties, IllinoisDecember 18, 1957F3, 20.2 mi (33 km)
  5. F3, Randolph and Perry counties, IllinoisDecember 18, 1957F3, 17.7 mi (28 km)
  6. F3, Perry and Montgomery counties, IllinoisMay 29, 1982F3, 10.0 mi (16 km)
  7. F3, Perry County, IllinoisDecember 18, 1957F3, 2.5 mi (4 km)
  8. F2, Perry, Randolph, Perry, Jefferson and Wayne counties, Missouri and IllinoisMarch 6, 1961F2, 112.1 mi (180 km)
  9. EF2, Jackson and Perry counties, IllinoisMarch 14, 2025EF2, 15.2 mi (24 km)
  10. F2, Jackson and Perry counties, IllinoisNovember 13, 1951F2, 7.1 mi (11 km)

Every year with a tornado

The 18 years of the 76 in the record with a tornado in Perry County. Each year links to every tornado in Illinois that year.

YearTornadoesDeathsInjuriesStrongest
20251EF2
202011EF1
20171EF0
20152EF1
201111EF1
20092EF1
20041F1
20011F0
19981F0
19961F1
198217F3
19732F2
1967115F3
19611F2
19591F1
1958111F3
1957417F5
195117F2

Every tornado that crossed Perry County

24 tornadoes, newest first. 2 of them touched down in a neighboring state and ran in, so the record files them under that state rather than Illinois.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 14, 202512:10 AM CDTEF2Jackson15.2250$1.8 million
March 19, 20203:44 PM CDTEF1Perry3.21251$300,000
November 18, 201712:15 PM CSTEF0Perry0.730$250,000
December 23, 201511:23 AM CSTEF1Perry5.0200$175,000
June 19, 20156:01 PM CDTEF0Perry0.130
June 19, 20113:48 AM CDTEF1Perry3.22501$550,000
June 8, 20098:00 PM CDTEF1Perry4.8300$26,000
June 8, 20097:42 PM CDTEF0Perry0.4100$4,000
May 30, 20046:25 PM CDTF1Perry12.075$250,000
May 31, 20014:45 PM CDTF0Perry0.130
April 15, 19986:32 PM CDTF0Perry1.050
April 19, 19968:20 PM CDTF1Perry2.5100$70,000
May 29, 19822:05 PM CDTF3Perry10.02007$50,000 to $500,000
June 17, 19732:40 AM CDTF0Perry0.110
May 7, 19736:40 PM CDTF2Perry0.110
December 21, 196710:45 AM GMT-6F3Perry to IL29.840015$5 million to $50 million
March 6, 19612:30 AM GMT-6F2Perry to IL112.150$500,000 to $5 million
September 26, 19598:00 PM GMT-5F1Perry0.3130$500 to $5,000
April 5, 19584:10 PM GMT-6F3Jackson20.610011$50,000 to $500,000
December 18, 19574:35 PM GMT-6F5Sunfield tornado5.420016$50,000 to $500,000
December 18, 19573:35 PM GMT-6F3Perry2.5101$50,000 to $500,000
December 18, 19573:15 PM GMT-6F3Randolph17.710$50,000 to $500,000
December 18, 19572:40 PM GMT-6F3Randolph20.210$5,000 to $50,000
November 13, 19512:50 PM GMT-6F2Jackson7.12507$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Warnings in force in Perry CountyThe forecast for Perry CountyThe live radar over Perry 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.