NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lake Forest, 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 Lake Forest, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 78 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 78
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
12 deaths in all
What the records show for Lake Forest
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Lake Forest; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 59 mph winds when its centre passed 33 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Lake Forest. The highest rating among the 78 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on September 28, 1972, came within 3 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 11, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 78, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 32 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 95% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lake Forest. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 101 times since 1967, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Lake Forest has more hail reports within 10 miles than 50% of the 548 Illinois cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Lake Forest
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Lake Forest: 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 Lake Forest
By decade
- 2020s24
- 2010s3
- 2000s5
- 1990s7
- 1980s2
- 1970s15(1 EF3+)
- 1960s14(2 EF3+)
- 1950s8
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 17 mi | 9.1 mi | 6 / 75 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 12 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 100 |
| Sep 28, 1972 | F4 | 3 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F2 | 13 mi | 15.1 mi | 2 / 66 |
| Jun 9, 1966 | F2 | 10 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Mar 4, 1961 | F2 | 23 mi | 7.9 mi | 1 / 115 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F2 | 10 mi | 81 mi | 1 / 0 |
| May 18, 1997 | F2 | 9 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1996 | F2 | 15 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 20, 1976 | F2 | 15 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 17, 1975 | F2 | 13 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 25, 1972 | F2 | 14 mi | 1.8 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 78, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lake Forest
The Storm Prediction Center has 101 hail reports within 10 miles of Lake Forest since 1967, made on 54 separate days. Of these, 66 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 18, 1967. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. April has the most reports, 40.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lake Forest
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Chicago Botanic Garden, IL, 8 miles southeast of Lake Forest at 630 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 16°F. May is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.0 inches; the year adds up to 39.5 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 128 nights a year. Snowfall averages 33.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 39.5 inches is more than at 66 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (45%). Lake Bluff, 3 miles north, has its own station (Chicago Waukegan Regional Airport, IL): 35.5 inches a year, 4.0 less 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 | 32 | 16 | 2.1 | 6 | 11.3 |
| Feb | 36 | 19 | 2.0 | 5 | 7.7 |
| Mar | 46 | 28 | 2.3 | 6 | 5.6 |
| Apr | 57 | 38 | 4.0 | 8 | 1.1 |
| May | 68 | 48 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 57 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 63 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 62 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 55 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 43 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 49 | 33 | 2.6 | 5 | 1.9 |
| Dec | 38 | 22 | 2.3 | 6 | 5.9 |
| Year | 59 | 40 | 39.5 | 74 | 33.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Chicago Botanic Garden, IL (630 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 Lake Forest
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 217 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lake Forest: 133 thunderstorm wind reports, 32 flash floods, 30 floods, 13 heavy rain events and 9 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $22.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on September 21, 2010. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 415 have had fewer than Lake Forest.
September 5, 2014: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Lake Forest — 1 killed.
August 28, 2018: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Lake Forest — 2 injured.
April 18, 2013: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Lake Forest — $12.0 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 Lake Forest's ZIP code 60045 have filed 42 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $227,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1982: 11 claims (26% of all) and $44,000. 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, 142 have fewer than Lake Forest.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1982 | 11 | $44,000 |
Lake County, which includes Lake Forest, 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.
Cities near Lake Forest
- Highwood, IL3 mi
- Lake Bluff, IL3 mi
- Highland Park, IL5 mi
- Deerfield, IL5 mi
- Lincolnshire, IL5 mi
- Great Lakes, IL5 mi
- Vernon Hills, IL5 mi
- Libertyville, IL6 mi
- North Chicago, IL6 mi
- Buffalo Grove, IL7 mi
- Northbrook, IL8 mi
- Mundelein, IL8 mi
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