Whiteside County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Illinois Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Whiteside County is lower than Illinois average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Whiteside County is lower than Illinois average and is higher than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #69
| Whiteside County | 0.03 |
| Illinois | 0.24 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Whiteside County | 0.0000 |
| Illinois | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #87
| Whiteside County | 175.16 |
| Illinois | 220.15 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 15,239 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Whiteside County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 39 | Cold: | 130 | Dense Fog: | 143 | Drought: | 67 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 1,290 | Hail: | 4,008 | Heat: | 109 | Heavy Snow: | 156 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 102 | Landslide: | 1 | Strong Wind: | 183 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 7,246 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 6 | Winter Storm: | 322 | Winter Weather: | 355 |
| Other: | 1,082 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Whiteside County.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 1 historical earthquake event that had a recorded magnitude of 3.5 or above found in or near Whiteside County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 27.6 | 1972-09-15 | 3.7 | 5 | 41.59 | -89.42 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 67 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Whiteside County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 2.4 | 1981-03-29 | 4 | 41°41'N / 89°57'W | 41°45'N / 89°53'W | 5.10 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Whiteside |
| 5.7 | 1966-03-21 | 2 | 41°48'N / 90°00'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Whiteside | |||
| 15.0 | 1967-04-21 | 2 | 41°32'N / 89°58'W | 41°32'N / 89°52'W | 4.50 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Henry |
| 15.4 | 1990-03-13 | 3 | 41°46'N / 90°13'W | 41°46'N / 90°12'W | 3.00 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Whiteside |
| 16.0 | 1962-05-07 | 2 | 41°48'N / 89°39'W | 41°43'N / 89°33'W | 7.20 Miles | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Whiteside |
| 16.0 | 1962-05-07 | 2 | 41°48'N / 89°39'W | 41°43'N / 89°33'W | 7.20 Miles | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Whiteside |
| 16.9 | 1959-09-26 | 2 | 41°57'N / 90°06'W | 41°59'N / 90°02'W | 3.30 Miles | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Carroll |
| 19.2 | 1990-03-13 | 3 | 41°37'N / 90°20'W | 41°46'N / 90°13'W | 12.00 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Rock Island |
| 19.4 | 1959-08-26 | 2 | 41°36'N / 90°17'W | 41°41'N / 90°14'W | 5.60 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Rock Island |
| 19.8 | 1974-06-20 | 3 | 41°59'N / 90°16'W | 41°50'N / 90°12'W | 10.60 Miles | 200 Yards | 1 | 20 | 2.5M | 0 | Clinton |
| 21.4 | 1956-08-30 | 2 | 41°48'N / 89°30'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Lee | |||
| 22.7 | 1990-03-13 | 3 | 41°36'N / 90°17'W | 41°37'N / 90°20'W | 0.50 Mile | 73 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Scott |
| 23.8 | 1967-01-24 | 3 | 42°03'N / 90°02'W | 42°08'N / 89°56'W | 7.40 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 12 | 250K | 0 | Carroll |
| 23.9 | 1972-04-06 | 2 | 42°03'N / 89°36'W | 41°54'N / 89°31'W | 10.90 Miles | 50 Yards | 1 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Ogle |
| 23.9 | 1967-04-21 | 2 | 41°26'N / 90°24'W | 41°29'N / 89°55'W | 25.10 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Henry |
| 24.8 | 1967-01-24 | 2 | 41°52'N / 90°22'W | 1.00 Mile | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Clinton | |
| 24.9 | 1979-08-05 | 3 | 42°01'N / 89°35'W | 41°57'N / 89°30'W | 5.70 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Ogle |
| 25.7 | 1967-01-24 | 2 | 41°57'N / 90°20'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Clinton | |||
| 25.7 | 1956-04-26 | 2 | 41°29'N / 90°22'W | 41°29'N / 90°09'W | 10.90 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Henry |
| 26.2 | 1962-05-28 | 2 | 41°25'N / 90°09'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Henry | |||
| 26.2 | 1972-04-06 | 2 | 41°54'N / 89°31'W | 41°43'N / 89°18'W | 16.60 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 6 | 250K | 0 | Lee |
| 26.5 | 1967-04-21 | 2 | 41°37'N / 89°29'W | 41°38'N / 89°22'W | 5.60 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lee |
| 27.5 | 1974-04-21 | 2 | 41°22'N / 90°03'W | 2.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Henry | |
| 29.1 | 1955-04-18 | 2 | 42°10'N / 89°55'W | 42°10'N / 89°44'W | 9.00 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Carroll |
| 29.4 | 1988-05-08 | 3 | 41°46'N / 90°45'W | 41°52'N / 90°12'W | 30.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Clinton |
| 30.7 | 1973-04-21 | 2 | 41°26'N / 90°25'W | 41°29'N / 90°18'W | 6.40 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Henry |
| 35.0 | 1966-04-19 | 3 | 41°30'N / 90°30'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Scott | |
| 35.1 | 1974-05-13 | 3 | 41°37'N / 90°36'W | 41°40'N / 90°33'W | 3.60 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Scott |
| 35.2 | 1965-04-23 | 2 | 41°21'N / 90°20'W | 0.20 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Henry | |
| 35.9 | 1967-01-24 | 2 | 41°37'N / 90°35'W | 2.00 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Scott | |
| 39.5 | 1996-04-19 | 3 | 41°12'N / 90°07'W | 41°11'N / 90°02'W | 3.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 4 | 10.0M | 0 | Henry |
| Brief Description: 10 Million in damage and 4 hospitalized as this tornado moved from Bishop Hill through Galva. At least 6 Million of damage was reported in the city limits of Galva where 150 homes were damaged, 26 received extensive damage, and 15 had to be destroyed. Extensive damage was also received to the city sewage treatment plant. A second, small and short lived tornado, did much less damage to the eastern part of town, most notably pushing over gravestones in a cemetery and downing trees. | |||||||||||
| 39.7 | 1959-09-26 | 2 | 41°11'N / 90°22'W | 41°18'N / 90°10'W | 12.90 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Henry |
| 40.0 | 1974-05-16 | 2 | 41°20'N / 90°33'W | 41°21'N / 90°22'W | 9.20 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Rock Island |
| 40.2 | 1995-07-27 | 2 | 41°56'N / 90°45'W | 41°49'N / 90°36'W | 10.50 Miles | 70 Yards | 0 | 0 | 200K | 150K | Clinton |
| 40.9 | 1973-04-21 | 2 | 41°20'N / 90°39'W | 41°26'N / 90°25'W | 13.60 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 2 | 2.5M | 0 | Rock Island |
| 41.5 | 2007-06-01 | 2 | 42°12'N / 90°25'W | 42°15'N / 90°24'W | 3.00 Miles | 350 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3.3M | 0K | Jackson |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado touched down about 3.5 miles south of Bellevue, IA. It moved north to county road Z15 and then northeast crossing the Mississippi River just south of Lock and Dam 12 into Jo Daviess County Illinois. Along the path, damage consisted of snapped and uprooted trees, farm out buildings, and roofs. The most significant damage occurred near the junction of county highway Z15 and 407th Avenue. A mobile home was rolled over and destroyed. The residents of the mobile home had taken shelter in the farm house about 100 feet away. The farm house only had damaged gutters. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A line of thunderstorms pivoted northeast into parts of southeast Iowa during the mid-morning hours of June 1st. Much of the area was just breaking out of a blanket of dense fog where visibilities dropped to less than a quarter mile. Dew point temperatures were in the middle 60s to around 70 degrees. The line of storms appeared to become more broken through the late morning hours, while the area from Iowa City to Waterloo appeared to stratify out into a large area of showers. Just before 12:00 pm CDT, rapid intensification of storm cells on the southeast end of the original line occurred as it moved into northern portions of Louisa County. A tornado touched down just south of Grandview, IA and moved northeast through Fruitland, IA and on to the southwest parts of Muscatine, IA. The tornado then lifted and as the storm cell continued to move northeast across Muscatine County. The super-cell re-intensified as it entered the southeast part of Cedar County just before 1 pm producing a brief tornado near Wilton, IA. The storm then moved across northwest parts of Scott County and Clinton County producing damaging wind gusts and large hail. The super-cell continued northeast into Jackson County producing a tornado near Bellevue around 2:30 pm, which moved across the Mississippi River into Jo Daviess County before lifting. The storm produced yet another tornado just south of Scales Mound, IL around 3:15 pm before moving into southwest Wisconsin and dissipating. During the early afternoon hours, additional storms strengthened on the south end of the original line of storms, which went on to produce wind damage and large hail as they moved through northwest Illinois through the late afternoon hours. | |||||||||||
| 41.9 | 1959-09-26 | 2 | 41°10'N / 89°39'W | 41°12'N / 89°36'W | 1.90 Miles | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Stark |
| 41.9 | 1962-05-07 | 3 | 41°40'N / 90°43'W | 10.00 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Scott | |
| 42.0 | 1976-03-04 | 3 | 41°12'N / 89°34'W | 0.80 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Bureau | |
| 42.6 | 1966-05-23 | 2 | 41°41'N / 90°44'W | 2.00 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Scott | |
| 42.9 | 1962-05-28 | 2 | 41°13'N / 90°20'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Henry | |||
| 43.2 | 1951-12-06 | 3 | 41°20'N / 89°11'W | 41°39'N / 89°07'W | 21.90 Miles | 150 Yards | 1 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Bureau |
| 43.2 | 1995-07-27 | 2 | 41°45'N / 90°47'W | 41°43'N / 90°43'W | 5.50 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 10K | 70K | Scott |
| 44.1 | 1988-05-08 | 3 | 41°45'N / 90°47'W | 41°46'N / 90°45'W | 2.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Scott |
| 44.1 | 1967-01-24 | 2 | 41°47'N / 90°46'W | 2.00 Miles | 143 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Scott | |
| 44.3 | 1974-04-13 | 2 | 41°14'N / 90°25'W | 0.10 Mile | 17 Yards | 0 | 1 | 3K | 0 | Mercer | |
| 44.4 | 1975-06-14 | 2 | 41°10'N / 89°33'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Bureau | |||
| 45.4 | 1975-11-09 | 2 | 42°03'N / 90°43'W | 42°04'N / 90°40'W | 1.30 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Jackson |
| 45.7 | 1967-04-21 | 2 | 41°15'N / 89°20'W | 0.30 Mile | 30 Yards | 0 | 1 | 3K | 0 | Putnam | |
| 45.8 | 1979-08-17 | 2 | 42°16'N / 89°21'W | 0.50 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Winnebago | |
| 46.5 | 1974-06-14 | 3 | 41°23'N / 90°40'W | 41°18'N / 90°35'W | 6.80 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Rock Island |
| 46.6 | 1967-06-11 | 2 | 42°24'N / 90°06'W | 42°26'N / 90°01'W | 4.30 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Jo Daviess |
| 46.6 | 2001-06-14 | 2 | 41°29'N / 90°47'W | 41°33'N / 90°44'W | 6.40 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Scott |
| Brief Description: An F2 tornado touched down at 501 pm CST, around a half mile east/northeast of Montpelier, near Highway 22 and the Muscatine/Scott County line. The tornado then tracked northeast into Scott County, was on the ground about 6.5 miles, and was 200 yards wide. The tornado ripped the roof off of three homes in Blue Grass, and produced lesser damage to many other homes. Three people in Blue Grass sustained minor injuries. The tornado produced F2 damage in the area around Normandy Street in Blue Grass, before lifting 2.5 miles northeast of the community at 506 pm CST. | |||||||||||
| 46.7 | 1960-11-15 | 2 | 42°16'N / 90°30'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Jackson | |
| 46.9 | 1965-04-24 | 3 | 41°09'N / 89°37'W | 41°06'N / 89°30'W | 6.50 Miles | 43 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Marshall |
| 47.1 | 1974-04-13 | 2 | 41°12'N / 90°27'W | 0.10 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Mercer | |
| 47.3 | 1991-03-22 | 2 | 41°53'N / 90°51'W | 41°58'N / 90°45'W | 7.00 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Clinton |
| 47.6 | 1955-04-19 | 2 | 42°16'N / 90°41'W | 42°16'N / 90°22'W | 15.90 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Jackson |
| 48.0 | 2004-04-20 | 2 | 41°15'N / 89°17'W | 41°18'N / 89°11'W | 6.80 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 5 | 8.0M | 0 | Putnam |
| Brief Description: Rated very high end F2 The low topped supercell that produced 2 earlier tornadoes in Stark and Marshall/Bureau counties continued to be a cyclic tornado producer. The deadliest and longest lived tornado started at 1644 CST, 0.7 miles North Northeast of Florid in Putnam County and moved northeast toward Granville. The long lived nature of the tornado was due to it riding along a warm front pushing through Putnam and La Salle counties. Satellite imagery indicated a strengthening mesocyclone at 1625 CST (2225 Z) with the formation of a new line of feeder clouds into the supercell, and KDVN 88D velocity data showed a strengthening TVS signature by 1635 CST (2235 Z). Witnesses reported a multiple vortex tornado just prior to its arrival in Granville. The tornado hit Granville at 1647-1648 CST which coincided with the failure of the main power feed into town. The town was bisected by the half mile wide tornado with 12 buildings destroyed, 45 with major damage, and 26 with minor damage (mainly residential). The Granville State National Bank lost its roof and Hopkins Elementary School lost the roof over the old gymnasium with damage in nearly all the classrooms. Significant damage also occurred to Granville Drugs, the only drug store in town. In a strange twist of irony, the town had finally recovered from a major fire 4 years earlier that decimated much of the business district. The tornado continued northeast out of Granville and crossed over into La Salle County (WFO LOT) at 1653 CST (2253 Z), 3.8 miles Northeast of Granville. The Granville/Utica tornado was the first significant test of a new statewide mutual aid response agreement. In Granville 5 people were injured by the tornado, including an eldery female who suffered a heart attack during the tornado and was eventually Life Flighted to a Peoria hospital. Injuries were low due to the 32 minutes of lead time before the tornado struck Granville. Damage in Granville is estimated to be at least $8 million with the school suffering at least $3.5 million in damage. | |||||||||||
| 48.1 | 1975-11-09 | 2 | 41°54'N / 90°53'W | 42°02'N / 90°43'W | 12.30 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Clinton |
| 48.8 | 1967-07-23 | 2 | 41°07'N / 89°41'W | 41°03'N / 89°31'W | 9.40 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Stark |
| 48.8 | 2006-04-13 | 2 | 41°16'N / 90°37'W | 41°16'N / 90°35'W | 2.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 30K | 0 | Mercer |
| Brief Description: Rated low F2 Tornado developed just east of 240th Street at 2107 CST and tracked generally east across the far northern part of Matherville and dissipated just west of U.S. 67 east of Matherville at 2111 CST. Two homes had roof damage done to them with the sheriff's office indicating one house was completely unroofed. | |||||||||||
| 49.1 | 1995-05-09 | 3 | 41°32'N / 90°49'W | 7.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3.0M | 0 | Scott | |
| Brief Description: This tornado destroyed 26 farm buildings, 20 of them with major damage. Nine homes were hit, one destroyed, two with major damage and six with minor damage. Seven of the nine homes were farmhouses. Roxanne Paper, with baby boy Logan in arm, was downstairs when the tornado struck. She reported that it sounded like something big was tearing through the house. The Gary Meincke farm was hit very hard. He and his wife watched the tornado touch down south of their farm at around 1630 CDT. Shortly after that they ran with their children to the basement. Debris from the Leroy Feldhahn farm near Stockton was spread over nearby Interstate 80 causing a two mile long traffic jam. Governor Terry Branstad later proclaimed a Disaster Emergency for Scott County. | |||||||||||
| 49.2 | 1978-08-15 | 3 | 41°20'N / 90°41'W | 41°21'N / 90°42'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Rock Island | ||
| 49.3 | 1975-03-23 | 2 | 41°04'N / 90°11'W | 1.00 Mile | 80 Yards | 0 | 2 | 25K | 0 | Knox | |
| 49.9 | 1972-07-17 | 3 | 41°04'N / 89°38'W | 41°08'N / 89°21'W | 15.20 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Marshall |
| 49.9 | 2001-06-14 | 2 | 41°28'N / 90°48'W | 41°28'N / 90°48'W | 0.10 Mile | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Muscatine |
| Brief Description: An F2 tornado touched down at 501 pm CST, around a half mile east/northeast of Montpelier, near Highway 22 and the Muscatine/Scott County line. The tornado then tracked northeast into Scott County, was on the ground about 6.5 miles, and was 200 yards wide. The tornado ripped the roof off of three homes in Blue Grass, and produced lesser damage to many other homes. Three people in Blue Grass sustained minor injuries. The tornado produced F2 damage in the area around Normandy Street in Blue Grass, before lifting 2.5 miles northeast of the community at 506 pm CST. | |||||||||||
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.