IL

Storm restoration across McLean County

McLean County sits squarely in Illinois's tornado corridor and leads the state with over 122 documented tornadoes since 1950, including six in a single night on April 17, 2026, and an F3 strike near Colfax during the 1974 Super Outbreak. Large hail is a recurring hazard - the county has recorded eleven hail events of 2 inches or larger since 1955, including a 4.5-inch stone at Stanford in May 2003 and a 4.25-inch stone at Hudson in 2004. Derechos and organized straight-line wind events are a separate, serious threat: the July 2024 derecho pushed measured gusts to 72 mph at Bloomington's Central Illinois Airport and an estimated 80-95 mph in surveyed damage corridors, while the April 2026 storm complex produced straight-line winds of 75-95 mph in north Normal alongside the tornadoes. Winter brings its own exposure, with ice storms capable of coating the county in a quarter to a half inch of glaze, heavy snowfall combined with open-terrain blowing and drifting, and periodic blizzard-level conditions that shut down I-55 and I-74 - the two major interstates that intersect in the heart of the county at Bloomington-Normal.