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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Carpentersville, 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 Carpentersville, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 136 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
1

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
136

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
5

35 deaths in all

What the records show for Carpentersville

None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Carpentersville; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 36 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Carpentersville. The highest rating among the 136 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 28, 1972, came within 23 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 136, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 67 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 28. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Carpentersville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 205 times since 1961, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Carpentersville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 81% of the 548 Illinois cities.

Compare Carpentersville's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Carpentersville

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Carpentersville, Illinois, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 1136 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Carpentersville: 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 Carpentersville

By decade

  • 2020s51
  • 2010s5
  • 2000s11
  • 1990s12
  • 1980s4
  • 1970s22(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s20(3 EF3+)
  • 1950s11
Strongest tornadoes near Carpentersville, Illinois
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Apr 21, 1967F418 mi25.5 mi24 / 450
Apr 11, 1965F48 mi9.1 mi6 / 75
Apr 21, 1967F42 mi8.8 mi1 / 100
Sep 28, 1972F423 mi5.2 mi0 / 20
Mar 12, 1976F323 mi22.6 mi0 / 3
Mar 12, 1976F223 mi15.1 mi2 / 66
Jun 9, 1966F218 mi2.5 mi1 / 30
Oct 8, 1958F219 mi81 mi1 / 0
May 18, 1997F224 mi6 mi0 / 0
Jul 16, 1980F213 mi1.4 mi0 / 0
Aug 15, 1978F26 mi2 mi0 / 0
Jun 17, 1975F214 mi1.5 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 136, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Carpentersville

The Storm Prediction Center has 205 hail reports within 10 miles of Carpentersville since 1961, made on 102 separate days. Of these, 117 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 20, 2013. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. April has the most reports, 48.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Carpentersville since 2019 →

Weather by month in Carpentersville

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Elgin, IL, 4 miles south of Carpentersville at 763 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 14°F. May is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.9 inches; the year adds up to 39.9 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 139 nights a year. Snowfall averages 32.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 39.9 inches is more than at 77 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (53%). Fox River Grove, 6 miles northeast, has its own station (Barrington 3SW, IL): 40.7 inches a year, 0.8 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 84°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Elgin, IL
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan30142.059.5
Feb34171.958.0
Mar46262.463.7
Apr59374.080.8
May70485.180.0
Jun80584.570.0
Jul84634.060.0
Aug82614.360.0
Sep76533.560.0
Oct63413.360.0
Nov48302.761.4
Dec36202.258.7
Year593939.97432.1

Averages for 1991–2020 at Elgin, IL (763 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.

Illinois weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Carpentersville

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 420 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Carpentersville: 330 thunderstorm wind reports, 34 floods, 29 flash floods, 14 heavy rain events and 13 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $57.2 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, 9 of 29. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 395 have had fewer than Carpentersville.

  • July 24, 2010: flood 9 miles from the centre of Carpentersville — 1 killed.

  • July 23, 2011: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Carpentersville — $20.0 million damage.

  • July 12, 2017: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Carpentersville — $12.7 million damage.

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 Carpentersville's ZIP code 60110 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981, and were paid $20,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 8% 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, 26 have fewer than Carpentersville.

Kane County, which includes Carpentersville, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 snowstorms, 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 Kane County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $198.1 million a year, the 5th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $99.0 million (50%), 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 Carpentersville