NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cortland, 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 October 26, 2026

1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Cortland, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 125 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 1
Tornadoes: 125
EF3 or stronger: 3

What the records show for Cortland

None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Cortland; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 56 mph winds when its centre passed 42 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Cortland. The strongest of the 125 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on August 28, 1990; its path came within 24 miles, and it killed 29 people. Of the 125, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 79 have come since 2000. August has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 55% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Cortland. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 61 times since 1970, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 548 Illinois cities, 72% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Cortland.

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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Cortland

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Cortland, Illinois, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
1900	Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11	42 mi	Tropical storm (56 mph)	Category 4

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

By decade

2020s46
2010s16(1 EF3+)
2000s17
1990s10(1 EF3+)
1980s4
1970s13
1960s10(1 EF3+)
1950s9

Strongest tornadoes near Cortland, Illinois
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
Aug 28, 1990	F5	24 mi	16.4 mi	29 / 350
Apr 21, 1967	F4	23 mi	25.5 mi	24 / 450
Apr 9, 2015	EF4	19 mi	30.14 mi	2 / 11
Jul 16, 1980	F2	16 mi	1.4 mi	0 / 0
Aug 15, 1978	F2	24 mi	2 mi	0 / 0
Jun 18, 1975	F2	8 mi	4.7 mi	0 / 1
Apr 21, 1967	F2	22 mi	0.3 mi	0 / 0
Apr 21, 1967	F2	19 mi	2.68 mi	0 / 5
Aug 15, 1958	F2	20 mi	74.5 mi	0 / 0
Aug 6, 1958	F2	21 mi	2 mi	0 / 0
Aug 23, 1956	F2	22 mi	0.1 mi	0 / 0
May 27, 1954	F2	21 mi	7.9 mi	0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 125, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Cortland

The Storm Prediction Center has 61 hail reports within 10 miles of Cortland since 1970, made on 46 separate days. Of these, 32 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 12, 1998. The most recent report is from July 28, 2023. May has the most reports, 16.

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

Weather by month in Cortland

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is De Kalb, IL, 5 miles west of Cortland at 873 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 13°F. May is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.7 inches; the year adds up to 37.3 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 141 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.3 inches is more than at 20 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (14%). Hinckley, 10 miles south, has its own station (Chicago Aurora Municipal Airport, IL): 33.9 inches a year, 3.4 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 83°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at De Kalb, IL
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"	Snow in
Jan	28	13	1.7	4	10.2
Feb	33	17	1.7	4	8.7
Mar	45	27	2.2	5	4.4
Apr	59	37	3.6	7	1.3
May	70	49	4.8	9	0.0
Jun	80	60	4.6	7	0.0
Jul	83	63	4.0	6	0.0
Aug	81	61	4.1	6	0.0
Sep	75	53	3.3	6	0.0
Oct	62	41	3.0	6	0.1
Nov	46	30	2.3	5	1.8
Dec	34	19	2.0	5	6.6
Year	58	39	37.3	70	33.1

Averages for 1991–2020 at De Kalb, IL (873 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 Cortland

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 198 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cortland: 181 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 flash floods, 5 floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $4.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on May 20, 2014. August has had the most flash floods, 5 of 10. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 125 have had fewer than Cortland.

April 5, 1997: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Cortland — 1 injured.
August 23, 2007: flood 3 miles from the centre of Cortland — $1.0 million damage.
July 9, 2007: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Cortland — $750,000 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

DeKalb County, which includes Cortland, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 floods, 3 severe storms, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives DeKalb County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for hail, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $47.4 million a year, the 21st highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $24.3 million (51%), 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 Cortland

All Illinois cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Cortland with another place →

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