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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Carthage, IL

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Carthage, Illinois since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 93 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
93

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
7

1 deaths in all

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Carthage

By decade

  • 2020s5
  • 2010s10
  • 2000s14
  • 1990s21(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s10
  • 1970s17(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s10(3 EF3+)
  • 1950s6(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Carthage, Illinois
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jan 24, 1967F321 mi4.3 mi1 / 6
Apr 8, 1999F311 mi7.5 mi0 / 0
Apr 13, 1974F312 mi11 mi0 / 0
Sep 30, 1973F316 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Apr 21, 1964F320 mi14.1 mi0 / 0
May 14, 1961F324 mi127.1 mi0 / 8
May 21, 1957F318 mi13.7 mi0 / 0
Dec 4, 2017EF220 mi7.97 mi0 / 1
May 10, 2003F22 mi69.2 mi0 / 4
May 10, 2003F222 mi11.5 mi0 / 0
Apr 5, 1999F222 mi9.4 mi0 / 0
Mar 8, 1990F217 mi42 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 93, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Carthage while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

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