IL

Storm restoration across Perry County

Perry County sits in the "Little Egypt" region of far southern Illinois, where it falls under the NWS Paducah forecast zone (ILZ080) and sits at the northern fringe of Dixie Alley severe weather patterns. The county has a documented tornado history including an F3 in 1957 (Randolph-Perry track) and another F3 in 1982 that destroyed four homes and injured seven people, with the peak severe weather window running April through June. Supercell thunderstorms bring large hail, damaging straight-line winds, and derechos that sweep northeast across the Mississippi River valley; Perry County has been included in state disaster declarations tied to heavy rainfall events producing locally up to 12 inches of rain and widespread flash and riverine flooding. Winter hazards are also significant: southern Illinois sits in one of the nation's primary ice-storm corridors, averaging 15 severe ice events per decade, with freezing rain accumulations that down trees, snap power lines, and close roads across the county.