NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit St Charles, 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 St Charles, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 166 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 166
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
40 deaths in all
What the records show for St Charles
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed St Charles; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 48 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than St Charles. The strongest of the 166 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on August 28, 1990; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 29 people. Of the 166, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 95 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. St Charles has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 71% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 151 times since 1969, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). St Charles has more hail reports within 10 miles than 65% of the 548 Illinois cities.
Compare St Charles's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near St Charles
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 48 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 St Charles: 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 St Charles
By decade
- 2020s67(1 EF3+)
- 2010s10
- 2000s18
- 1990s10(1 EF3+)
- 1980s7(1 EF3+)
- 1970s24(2 EF3+)
- 1960s20(2 EF3+)
- 1950s10
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 1990 | F5 | 17 mi | 16.4 mi | 29 / 350 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 20 mi | 9.1 mi | 6 / 75 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F4 | 16 mi | 8.8 mi | 1 / 100 |
| Jun 29, 1979 | F4 | 24 mi | 5.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 27, 1984 | F3 | 23 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jun 20, 2021 | EF3 | 15 mi | 17.6 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F3 | 16 mi | 22.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F2 | 22 mi | 15.1 mi | 2 / 66 |
| Jun 9, 1966 | F2 | 24 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Jul 16, 1980 | F2 | 16 mi | 1.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 15, 1978 | F2 | 17 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1975 | F2 | 22 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 166, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in St Charles
The Storm Prediction Center has 151 hail reports within 10 miles of St Charles since 1969, made on 79 separate days. Of these, 102 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 8, 2025. The most recent report is from June 8, 2025. April has the most reports, 35.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in St Charles
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is West Chicago Dupage Airport, IL, 5 miles east of St Charles at 754 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 16°F. May is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 33.2 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. That 33.2 inches is more than at 1 of the 146 Illinois stations used on this site (1%). South Elgin, 5 miles northeast, has its own station (Elgin, IL): 39.9 inches a year, 6.7 more than here, and the same July average high, 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 16 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Feb | 35 | 19 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Mar | 47 | 28 | 2.0 | 5 |
| Apr | 60 | 38 | 3.4 | 7 |
| May | 71 | 49 | 4.3 | 9 |
| Jun | 81 | 59 | 3.7 | 7 |
| Jul | 84 | 63 | 3.6 | 6 |
| Aug | 82 | 62 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Sep | 76 | 54 | 3.0 | 5 |
| Oct | 62 | 42 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Nov | 48 | 31 | 2.2 | 4 |
| Dec | 35 | 21 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Year | 59 | 40 | 33.2 | 66 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at West Chicago Dupage Airport, IL (754 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 St Charles
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 391 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of St Charles: 326 thunderstorm wind reports, 27 floods, 18 flash floods, 12 heavy rain events and 8 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 48, and the NWS estimated $37.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on July 17, 2003. August has had the most flash floods, 5 of 18. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 292 have had fewer than St Charles.
July 24, 2010: flood 6 miles from the centre of St Charles — 1 killed.
May 15, 2020: flood 10 miles from the centre of St Charles — 1 killed.
August 23, 2007: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of St Charles — 40 injured, $500,000 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 St Charles's 2 ZIP codes have filed 120 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Ike in 2008: 23 claims (19% of all) and $567,000, then Flooding in 1997 with 16. 35% 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, 223 have fewer than St Charles.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Ike2008 | 23 | $567,000 |
| Flooding1997 | 16 | $116,000 |
Kane County, which includes St Charles, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 snowstorms, 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 Kane County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $198.1 million a year, the 5th highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $99.0 million (50%), 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.