NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Barrington, IL
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Barrington, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 131 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 131
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
35 deaths in all
What the records show for Barrington
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Barrington; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 35 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Barrington. The highest rating among the 131 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 28, 1972, came within 17 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 131, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 63 have come since 2000. June and July have had the most tornadoes, 26 each. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 51% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Barrington. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 222 times since 1961, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Barrington has more hail reports within 10 miles than 86% of the 548 Illinois cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Barrington
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Barrington: 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 Barrington
By decade
- 2020s48
- 2010s4
- 2000s11
- 1990s10
- 1980s4
- 1970s23(2 EF3+)
- 1960s19(3 EF3+)
- 1950s12
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 19 mi | 25.5 mi | 24 / 450 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 8 mi | 9.1 mi | 6 / 75 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 2 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 100 |
| Sep 28, 1972 | F4 | 17 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F3 | 23 mi | 22.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F2 | 20 mi | 15.1 mi | 2 / 66 |
| Jun 9, 1966 | F2 | 12 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 16 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| May 18, 1997 | F2 | 19 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 1980 | F2 | 20 mi | 1.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 1978 | F2 | 11 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 1975 | F2 | 10 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 131, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Barrington
The Storm Prediction Center has 222 hail reports within 10 miles of Barrington since 1961, made on 106 separate days. Of these, 137 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2 inches (hen egg size), was reported on 3 days, most recently June 26, 2019. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. April has the most reports, 53.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Barrington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Barrington 3SW, IL, 3 miles south of Barrington at 875 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 29°F and 13°F. May is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.9 inches; the year adds up to 40.7 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 137 nights a year. Snowfall averages 38.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 40.7 inches is more than at 91 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (62%). Lake Zurich, 6 miles northeast, has its own station (Mundelein 4 WSW, IL): 38.6 inches a year, 2.1 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | 13 | 2.1 | 5 | 12.6 |
| Feb | 33 | 16 | 1.9 | 5 | 8.5 |
| Mar | 45 | 27 | 2.4 | 5 | 4.6 |
| Apr | 58 | 37 | 4.0 | 8 | 1.1 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 58 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 63 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 61 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 54 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 42 | 3.4 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 46 | 30 | 2.6 | 5 | 2.0 |
| Dec | 34 | 20 | 2.2 | 6 | 9.6 |
| Year | 57 | 39 | 40.7 | 76 | 38.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Barrington 3SW, IL (875 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Barrington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 391 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Barrington: 317 thunderstorm wind reports, 26 floods, 18 lightning strikes, 15 flash floods and 15 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 7, and the NWS estimated $23.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on May 12, 2004. June has had the most flash floods, 7 of 15. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 245 have had fewer than Barrington.
May 18, 2000: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Barrington — 1 killed.
May 17, 1999: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Barrington — 7 injured.
July 12, 2017: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Barrington — $12.7 million damage.
NWS: “Torrential rain fell across much of Lake County during the morning of July 12th causing widespread flash flooding. Numerous roads were impassable.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Barrington's ZIP code 60010 have filed 149 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Mid-spring storms in 2013: 15 claims (10% of all) and $330,000, then Flooding in 1986 with 14. 23% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 320 Illinois cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 243 have fewer than Barrington.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-spring storms2013 | 15 | $330,000 |
| Flooding1986 | 14 | $47,000 |
Lake County, which includes Barrington, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 snowstorms, 4 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lake County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $266.5 million a year, the 4th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $155.5 million (58%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Barrington
- Fox River Grove, IL4 mi
- Lake Zurich, IL6 mi
- Cary, IL6 mi
- Palatine, IL6 mi
- Carpentersville, IL7 mi
- Wauconda, IL7 mi
- Hoffman Estates, IL8 mi
- West Dundee, IL8 mi
- Island Lake, IL8 mi
- Algonquin, IL9 mi
- Rolling Meadows, IL9 mi
- Streamwood, IL10 mi
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