NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sandwich, 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 Sandwich, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 155 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 155
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
35 deaths in all
What the records show for Sandwich
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Sandwich; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 56 mph winds when its centre passed 61 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Sandwich. The strongest of the 155 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on August 28, 1990; its path came within 15 miles, and it killed 29 people. Of the 155, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 94 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 39. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Sandwich has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 63% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 50 times since 1975, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Of the 548 Illinois cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sandwich.
Compare Sandwich's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Sandwich
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 61 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 Sandwich: 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 Sandwich
By decade
- 2020s49(1 EF3+)
- 2010s25(1 EF3+)
- 2000s20
- 1990s9(1 EF3+)
- 1980s12(1 EF3+)
- 1970s20(4 EF3+)
- 1960s10
- 1950s10
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 1990 | F5 | 15 mi | 16.4 mi | 29 / 350 |
| Jun 29, 1979 | F4 | 22 mi | 5.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 28, 2017 | EF3 | 20 mi | 11.5 mi | 2 / 14 |
| Apr 27, 1984 | F3 | 17 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jun 20, 2021 | EF3 | 24 mi | 17.6 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Jun 30, 1977 | F3 | 14 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F3 | 15 mi | 22.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 17, 1972 | F3 | 18 mi | 81.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 12, 1965 | F2 | 19 mi | 35.9 mi | 2 / 90 |
| Apr 6, 1972 | F2 | 24 mi | 6.8 mi | 1 / 22 |
| Jul 15, 2024 | EF2 | 22 mi | 34.6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 22, 2016 | EF2 | 20 mi | 8.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 155, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sandwich
The Storm Prediction Center has 50 hail reports within 10 miles of Sandwich since 1975, made on 30 separate days. Of these, 35 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on May 12, 2000. The most recent report is from June 24, 2024. May and June have the most reports, 13 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sandwich
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Chicago Aurora Municipal Airport, IL, 12 miles northeast of Sandwich at 710 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 15°F. May is the wettest at 4.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.3 inches; the year adds up to 33.9 inches over 67 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 141 nights a year. That 33.9 inches is more than at 2 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (1%). Leland, 8 miles west, has its own station (Paw Paw 2S, IL): 36.6 inches a year, 2.7 more than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 15 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Feb | 35 | 18 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Mar | 48 | 28 | 2.2 | 5 |
| Apr | 60 | 37 | 3.6 | 7 |
| May | 72 | 49 | 4.1 | 8 |
| Jun | 81 | 59 | 4.0 | 8 |
| Jul | 84 | 62 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Aug | 82 | 60 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Sep | 76 | 52 | 3.0 | 5 |
| Oct | 63 | 41 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Nov | 48 | 29 | 2.3 | 5 |
| Dec | 36 | 21 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Year | 60 | 39 | 33.9 | 67 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Chicago Aurora Municipal Airport, IL (710 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 Sandwich
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 197 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sandwich: 176 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 floods, 6 flash floods, 5 lightning strikes and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 11, and the NWS estimated $77.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 10, 2020. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 51 have had fewer than Sandwich.
April 18, 2013: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Sandwich — 1 killed, $75.0 million damage.
NWS: “County emergency managers estimated that over 500 buildings were damaged by flooding across La Salle County. In Marseilles, 1500 people were evacuated due to a compromised levee which led to dozens of homes and facilities being flooded along the river front.”
September 14, 2008: flood 2 miles from the centre of Sandwich — 5 injured, $15,000 damage.
NWS: “Widespread flooding across parts of La Salle County slowly receded through September 17th. Five teenagers were injured on the evening of September 14th when the driver of the vehicle they were in, lost control on a water covered road.”
July 27, 2003: thunderstorm wind in Sandwich — 2 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
DeKalb County, which includes Sandwich, 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.