NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Oswego, 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 Oswego, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 191 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 191
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
35 deaths in all
What the records show for Oswego
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Oswego; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 64 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Oswego. The strongest of the 191 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on August 28, 1990; its path passed within a mile of the city centre, and it killed 29 people. Of the 191, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 108 have come since 2000. June and July have had the most tornadoes, 36 each. The most recent tornado was on March 19, 2025. Oswego has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 91% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 171 times since 1962, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Oswego has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare Oswego's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Oswego
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 64 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 Oswego: 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 Oswego
By decade
- 2020s66(1 EF3+)
- 2010s17
- 2000s25
- 1990s10(2 EF3+)
- 1980s18(1 EF3+)
- 1970s26(4 EF3+)
- 1960s21(1 EF3+)
- 1950s8
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 1990 | F5 | in town | 16.4 mi | 29 / 350 |
| Jun 13, 1976 | F4 | 18 mi | 3.3 mi | 2 / 23 |
| Jun 29, 1979 | F4 | 9 mi | 5.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 27, 1984 | F3 | 8 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jun 20, 2021 | EF3 | 9 mi | 17.6 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Mar 27, 1991 | F3 | 14 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F3 | 3 mi | 22.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 17, 1972 | F3 | 15 mi | 81.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 1961 | F3 | 24 mi | 51.7 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Nov 12, 1965 | F2 | 17 mi | 35.9 mi | 2 / 90 |
| Apr 6, 1972 | F2 | 13 mi | 6.8 mi | 1 / 22 |
| Jul 15, 2024 | EF2 | 19 mi | 34.6 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 191, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Oswego
The Storm Prediction Center has 171 hail reports within 10 miles of Oswego since 1962, made on 84 separate days. Of these, 117 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on May 12, 2000. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. April has the most reports, 46.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Oswego
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Aurora, IL, 7 miles north of Oswego at 660 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 16°F. May is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 39.7 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 16 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 27.9 inches a year, most of it in January. That 39.7 inches is more than at 69 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (47%). Yorkville, 6 miles southwest, has its own station (Chicago Aurora Municipal Airport, IL): 33.9 inches a year, 5.8 less than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 16 | 1.9 | 5 | 9.1 |
| Feb | 35 | 20 | 1.8 | 4 | 7.9 |
| Mar | 47 | 29 | 2.4 | 6 | 2.6 |
| Apr | 60 | 39 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.6 |
| May | 71 | 50 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 81 | 60 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 65 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 63 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 55 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 43 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 48 | 32 | 2.7 | 5 | 1.3 |
| Dec | 36 | 22 | 2.2 | 5 | 6.4 |
| Year | 59 | 41 | 39.7 | 74 | 27.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Aurora, IL (660 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 Oswego
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 425 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Oswego: 339 thunderstorm wind reports, 35 floods, 23 flash floods, 16 heavy rain events and 12 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on June 29, 2012. August has had the most flash floods, 8 of 23. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 341 have had fewer than Oswego.
September 14, 2008: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Oswego — $1.0 million damage.
May 29, 2011: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Oswego — $300,000 damage.
July 27, 2011: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Oswego — $300,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Oswego's ZIP code 60543 have filed 24 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $240,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 10 claims (42% of all) and $149,000. 71% 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, 85 have fewer than Oswego.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 10 | $149,000 |
Kendall County, which includes Oswego, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 snowstorms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kendall County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $74.8 million a year, the 14th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $33.7 million (45%), 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.