496
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
86
Direct injuries
$5.9M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in DuPage County, Illinois: 496 recorded events between 1963 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 83. That places the county #114 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in DuPage County, Illinois: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in DuPage County is the 2020s, when 167 of the county's 496 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the DuPage County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 51.1% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #114 for this hazard and #4 within Illinois, putting it in the 96.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in DuPage County with 142 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 2015 | WOOD DALE | 60 | 2 | 19 | $0 |
| Aug 23, 2007 | BLOOMINGDALE | 55 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| May 8, 1988 | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 | |
| Aug 23, 2007 | WEST CHICAGO | 65 | 0 | 40 | $500K |
| Apr 1, 2007 | CAROL STREAM | 83 | 0 | 11 | $1.0M |
| Aug 23, 2007 | ELMHURST | 60 | 0 | 3 | $100K |
| Jun 18, 2010 | NAPERVILLE | 50 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jun 17, 1992 | 0 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2, 2026 | WINFIELD | 52 | $0 |
| Apr 2, 2026 | FLOWERFIELD | 56 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 2025 | DARIEN | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 2025 | DOWNERS GROVE | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 2025 | DOWNERS GROVE | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 2025 | BUTTERFIELD | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 2025 | GLEN ELLYN | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 17, 2025 | WOOD DALE | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2025 | LISLE | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2025 | WAYNE | 56 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from DuPage County
- Hail 255
- Flood 77
- Flash Flood 63
- Tornado 46
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tent collapsed during a thunderstorm at the Wood Dale Prairie Fest killing a 35 year old man and injuring 20 other people, three seriously. One of the three seriously injured, an 81 year old woman, died from her injuries in January 2016.
Numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines blown down. A garage door was blown in by the high winds, a roof was partially blown off, some trees fell onto houses. In Villa Park, at least 1,500 trees were either destroyed or heavily damaged and 2,000 structures in Villa Park were damaged.
A semi trailer was flipped over on Interstate 88, just east of Route 83. The driver was taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries. Three office buildings on Jorie Boulevard sustained roof damage. One of the building's air conditioning units was flung across the parking lot. An Oak Brook fire station near Jorie Boulevard and Kensington Road also sustained roof damage. Trees and tree limbs were also blown down.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in DuPage County, Illinois?
496 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in DuPage County between 1963 and 2026, causing 4 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in DuPage County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in DuPage County measured 83.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for DuPage County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in DuPage County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/dupage-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.