IL

Storm restoration across Scott County

Scott County sits in west-central Illinois along the Illinois River and lies within the NWS Springfield (ILX) warning area, a zone with active severe weather year-round. Since 1950 the county has recorded 15 tornadoes, including a fatal F1 near Winchester in May 2004 and F2 and F3 events at Winchester in 1955 and 1961; the most recent confirmed EF1 struck the Riggston area in June 2025. The county's Illinois River bottomlands create chronic flash and riverine flood exposure, and the flat agricultural terrain channels derecho-driven straight-line winds and large hail events - a 7-inch hail stone was recorded here in September 1959, one of the largest on record in Illinois, and a supercell produced 63-mph wind gusts in Glasgow and structural damage in Winchester as recently as April 2026. Winter hazards include ice storms and heavy snow events common to the west-central Illinois corridor, with the March 1978 ice storm depositing up to two inches of glaze across the region and periodic blizzard conditions disrupting the county's rural road network.