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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Winfield, 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 Winfield, Illinois since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 194 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
1

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
194

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
9

71 deaths in all

What the records show for Winfield

None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Winfield; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 54 miles away. Of the 548 Illinois cities on this site, 57% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Winfield. The strongest of the 194 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on August 28, 1990; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 29 people. The deadliest, an F4 on April 21, 1967, killed 33 people. Of the 194, 17 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 107 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 43. The most recent tornado was on March 14, 2025. Winfield has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 93% of the 548 Illinois cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 243 times since 1962, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Winfield has more hail reports within 10 miles than 94% of the 548 Illinois cities.

Compare Winfield's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Winfield

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Winfield, Illinois, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 1154 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Winfield: 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 Winfield

By decade

  • 2020s74(1 EF3+)
  • 2010s12
  • 2000s21
  • 1990s11(2 EF3+)
  • 1980s13(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s29(3 EF3+)
  • 1960s21(2 EF3+)
  • 1950s13
Strongest tornadoes near Winfield, Illinois
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Aug 28, 1990F517 mi16.4 mi29 / 350
Apr 21, 1967F422 mi15 mi33 / 500
Jun 13, 1976F416 mi3.3 mi2 / 23
Apr 21, 1967F420 mi8.8 mi1 / 100
Jun 29, 1979F419 mi5.4 mi0 / 1
Apr 27, 1984F318 mi9 mi1 / 5
Jun 20, 2021EF39 mi17.6 mi0 / 11
Mar 27, 1991F319 mi15 mi0 / 7
Mar 12, 1976F36 mi22.6 mi0 / 3
Mar 12, 1976F212 mi15.1 mi2 / 66
Apr 6, 1972F222 mi6.8 mi1 / 22
Jun 9, 1966F219 mi2.5 mi1 / 30

The strongest 12 of 194, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Winfield

The Storm Prediction Center has 243 hail reports within 10 miles of Winfield since 1962, made on 112 separate days. Of these, 149 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 22, 1984. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 47.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Winfield

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is West Chicago Dupage Airport, IL, 6 miles northwest of Winfield 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%). Wheaton, 3 miles southeast, has its own station (Wheaton 3 SE, IL): 40.1 inches a year, 6.9 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 84°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at West Chicago Dupage Airport, IL
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"
Jan31161.33
Feb35191.23
Mar47282.05
Apr60383.47
May71494.39
Jun81593.77
Jul84633.66
Aug82623.86
Sep76543.05
Oct62423.06
Nov48312.24
Dec35211.74
Year594033.266

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.

Illinois weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Winfield

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 587 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Winfield: 465 thunderstorm wind reports, 64 floods, 36 flash floods, 14 lightning strikes and 8 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 66, and the NWS estimated $41.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on March 31, 2007. May has had the most flash floods, 9 of 36. Of the 547 Illinois cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 434 have had fewer than Winfield.

  • August 23, 2007: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Winfield — 1 killed.

  • July 24, 2010: flood 10 miles from the centre of Winfield — 1 killed.

  • May 15, 2020: flood in Winfield — 1 killed.

    NWS: “An 18 year old woman attempted to cross a flooded pedestrian bridge in the Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve and was swept away. A witness said water from the West Branch DuPage River was waist deep over the bridge.”

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 Winfield's ZIP code 60190 have filed 88 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $993,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 26 claims (30% of all) and $69,000, then Mid-spring storms in 2013 with 15 and Hurricane Ike in 2008 with 13. The year with the most claims was 2013, with 15. 61% 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, 202 have fewer than Winfield.

Flood insurance claims in Winfield by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Flooding199626$69,000
Mid-spring storms201315$445,000
Hurricane Ike200813$259,000

DuPage County, which includes Winfield, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives DuPage 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 heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $366.0 million a year, the 2nd highest of 102 Illinois counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $195.3 million (53%), 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 Winfield