NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fox Lake, 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 Fox Lake, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 95 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 95
- 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 Fox Lake
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Fox Lake; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 18 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Fox Lake. The highest rating among the 95 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on September 28, 1972, came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 95, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 43 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 23. The most recent tornado was on June 22, 2024. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 83% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Fox Lake. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 120 times since 1963, with stones up to 2.9 inches. Fox Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 58% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare Fox Lake's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Fox Lake
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 18 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 Fox Lake: 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 Fox Lake
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s13
- 2000s9(2 EF3+)
- 1990s12
- 1980s5
- 1970s15(1 EF3+)
- 1960s14(4 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 14 mi | 25.5 mi | 24 / 450 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 9 mi | 9.1 mi | 6 / 75 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 14 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 100 |
| Sep 28, 1972 | F4 | 18 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 12 mi | 10.78 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 21 mi | 13.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jul 19, 1963 | F3 | 12 mi | 10.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 9, 1966 | F2 | 25 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 2 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 2010 | EF2 | 24 mi | 18.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 18, 1997 | F2 | 7 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | F2 | 18 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 95, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Fox Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 120 hail reports within 10 miles of Fox Lake since 1963, made on 58 separate days. Of these, 80 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.9 inches, fell on May 2, 2018. The most recent report is from August 27, 2024. April has the most reports, 31.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Fox Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lake Villa 2NE, IL, 6 miles east of Fox Lake at 840 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 15°F. May is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.9 inches; the year adds up to 37.7 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 132 nights a year. Snowfall averages 43.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.7 inches is more than at 26 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (18%). Richmond, 7 miles northwest, has its own station (Pell Lake, WI): 36.5 inches a year, 1.2 less than here, and the same July average high, 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30 | 15 | 2.1 | 6 | 15.7 |
| Feb | 34 | 18 | 1.9 | 4 | 8.0 |
| Mar | 45 | 27 | 2.6 | 5 | 5.8 |
| Apr | 57 | 37 | 4.1 | 7 | 1.5 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 58 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 63 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 62 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 54 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 43 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 47 | 31 | 2.5 | 6 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 35 | 21 | 2.3 | 4 | 9.2 |
| Year | 58 | 40 | 37.7 | 67 | 43.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lake Villa 2NE, IL (840 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 Fox Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 240 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fox Lake: 192 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 floods, 12 lightning strikes, 10 flash floods and 7 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 21, and the NWS estimated $25.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 31, 2010. June has had the most flash floods, 3 of 10. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 125 have had fewer than Fox Lake.
July 18, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Fox Lake — 9 injured, $1.0 million damage.
July 21, 1998: thunderstorm wind in Fox Lake — 3 injured.
September 20, 2018: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Fox Lake — 3 injured.
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 Fox Lake's ZIP code 60020 have filed 324 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Mid-spring storms in 2013: 54 claims (17% of all) and $1.3 million, then Flooding in 1986 with 31. 29% 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, 289 have fewer than Fox Lake.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-spring storms2013 | 54 | $1.3 million |
| Flooding1986 | 31 | $110,000 |
Lake County, which includes Fox Lake, 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.