NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cary, 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 Cary, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 121 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 121
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
33 deaths in all
What the records show for Cary
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Cary; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 30 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Cary. The highest rating among the 121 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 28, 1972, came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 121, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 57 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 59% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Cary. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 153 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Cary has more hail reports within 10 miles than 66% of the 548 Illinois cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Cary
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 30 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 Cary: 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 Cary
By decade
- 2020s37
- 2010s8
- 2000s12(2 EF3+)
- 1990s13
- 1980s4
- 1970s21(1 EF3+)
- 1960s17(4 EF3+)
- 1950s9
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 13 mi | 25.5 mi | 24 / 450 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 3 mi | 9.1 mi | 6 / 75 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 3 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 100 |
| Sep 28, 1972 | F4 | 20 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 23 mi | 10.78 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 24 mi | 13.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jul 19, 1963 | F3 | 22 mi | 10.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 1966 | F2 | 18 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 12 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| May 18, 1997 | F2 | 17 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 1980 | F2 | 16 mi | 1.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 1978 | F2 | 7 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 121, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cary
The Storm Prediction Center has 153 hail reports within 10 miles of Cary since 1975, made on 80 separate days. Of these, 86 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 20, 2013. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 38.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cary
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Mc Henry -Wg Stratton L&D, IL, 6 miles north of Cary at 736 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 13°F. June is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.6 inches; the year adds up to 37.0 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 144 nights a year. Snowfall averages 34.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.0 inches is more than at 16 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (11%). Fox River Grove, 2 miles southeast, has its own station (Barrington 3SW, IL): 40.7 inches a year, 3.7 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 13 | 1.7 | 4 | 11.0 |
| Feb | 35 | 16 | 1.6 | 4 | 8.9 |
| Mar | 46 | 26 | 2.2 | 5 | 3.9 |
| Apr | 59 | 37 | 3.6 | 7 | 1.0 |
| May | 70 | 47 | 4.5 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 80 | 57 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 62 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 60 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 51 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 40 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 48 | 29 | 2.4 | 5 | 1.4 |
| Dec | 36 | 19 | 1.9 | 5 | 8.2 |
| Year | 59 | 38 | 37.0 | 70 | 34.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Mc Henry -Wg Stratton L&D, IL (736 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 Cary
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 311 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cary: 256 thunderstorm wind reports, 16 heavy rain events, 14 flash floods, 14 floods and 11 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people 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, 8 of 14. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 221 have had fewer than Cary.
May 17, 1999: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Cary — 7 injured.
July 12, 2017: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Cary — $12.7 million damage.
August 23, 2007: flood 4 miles from the centre of Cary — $5.0 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 Cary's ZIP code 60013 have filed 105 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $966,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Mid-spring storms in 2013: 19 claims (18% of all) and $420,000. 27% 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, 221 have fewer than Cary.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-spring storms2013 | 19 | $420,000 |
McHenry County, which includes Cary, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 snowstorms, 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives McHenry County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $142.5 million a year, the 8th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $85.1 million (60%), 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 Cary
- Fox River Grove, IL2 mi
- Crystal Lake, IL4 mi
- Island Lake, IL5 mi
- Algonquin, IL5 mi
- Lake In The Hills, IL6 mi
- Wauconda, IL6 mi
- Barrington, IL6 mi
- Carpentersville, IL7 mi
- West Dundee, IL8 mi
- Lake Zurich, IL10 mi
- Mchenry, IL10 mi
- Huntley, IL10 mi
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