NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kirkland, 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 Kirkland, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 108
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
28 deaths in all
What the records show for Kirkland
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Kirkland; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 56 mph winds when its centre passed 27 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Kirkland. The highest rating among the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 9, 2015, came within 3 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 24 people. Of the 108, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 74 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 22. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 70% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Kirkland. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 23 times since 1967, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 548 Illinois cities, 99% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Kirkland.
Compare Kirkland's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Kirkland
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 27 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 Kirkland: 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 Kirkland
By decade
- 2020s40
- 2010s18(1 EF3+)
- 2000s16(1 EF3+)
- 1990s9
- 1980s7
- 1970s8
- 1960s5(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 9 mi | 25.5 mi | 24 / 450 |
| Apr 9, 2015 | EF4 | 3 mi | 30.14 mi | 2 / 11 |
| Jan 7, 2008 | EF3 | 20 mi | 13.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 21 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 2010 | EF2 | 17 mi | 18.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jul 8, 1993 | F2 | 24 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 1980 | F2 | 18 mi | 1.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1975 | F2 | 4 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 30, 1958 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF1 | 8 mi | 27.51 mi | 1 / 40 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | EF1 | 21 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 2023 | EF1 | 23 mi | 10.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Kirkland
The Storm Prediction Center has 23 hail reports within 10 miles of Kirkland since 1967, made on 19 separate days. Of these, 17 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 7, 1980. The most recent report is from March 4, 2024. May has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Kirkland
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is De Kalb, IL, 13 miles southeast of Kirkland 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%). Cherry Valley, 9 miles northwest, has its own station (Rockford Gtr Rockford Airport, IL): 37.2 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 83°F.
| 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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Kirkland
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 85 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kirkland: 66 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 floods, 8 flash floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 12, and the NWS estimated $3.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 12, 2008. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 90 have had fewer than Kirkland.
August 24, 1998: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Kirkland — 12 injured.
September 14, 2008: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Kirkland — $3.0 million damage.
NWS: “Flash flooding or significant flooding was reported across much of DeKalb County, including street closures due to flooding, basement flooding and creek, stream and river flooding. Extensive flooding was reported in the Evergreen mobile home park near Sycamore.”
June 12, 2008: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Kirkland — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “The roof of a one story house was completely blown off and the east wall of the house was also blown down on Irene Road, about 2 miles south of Route 72. Trees were also blown down.”
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 Kirkland's ZIP code 60146 have filed 30 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $441,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 22 claims (73% of all) and $327,000. 73% 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, 112 have fewer than Kirkland.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 22 | $327,000 |
DeKalb County, which includes Kirkland, 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.