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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Orion, IL

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

1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Orion, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 155 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
1

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
155

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
5

no recorded deaths

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Orion

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Orion, Illinois, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 1147 miTropical storm (51 mph)Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Orion: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Orion

By decade

  • 2020s28
  • 2010s25
  • 2000s24
  • 1990s29(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s8
  • 1970s23(3 EF3+)
  • 1960s15(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s3
Strongest tornadoes near Orion, Illinois
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Mar 13, 1990F318 mi15.5 mi0 / 1
Aug 15, 1978F316 mi6.4 mi0 / 0
Jun 14, 1974F314 mi48.6 mi0 / 2
May 13, 1974F321 mi3.6 mi0 / 0
Apr 19, 1966F312 mi2 mi0 / 0
Apr 4, 2023EF215 mi2.79 mi0 / 0
Apr 4, 2023EF29 mi0.52 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF29 mi3.55 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF221 mi6.82 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF221 mi9.32 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF219 mi3.05 mi0 / 0
May 17, 2017EF221 mi1.29 mi0 / 1

The strongest 12 of 155, 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 Orion 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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