299
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
25
Direct injuries
$5.9M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Lake County, Illinois: 299 recorded events between 1960 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 78. That places the county #457 nationally and #19 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Lake County, Illinois: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Lake County is the 2020s, when 110 of the county's 299 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 Lake County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 46.6% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #457 for this hazard and #19 within Illinois, putting it in the 85.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Lake County with 78 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 7, 2007 | ZION | 50 | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 2, 1992 | 0 | 0 | 10 | $0 | |
| May 17, 1999 | WAUCONDA | 50 | 0 | 7 | $0 |
| Jul 21, 1998 | FOX LAKE | 50 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Apr 20, 1996 | FOX LAKE | 0 | 0 | 2 | $5.0M |
| Aug 10, 2020 | ROUND LAKE HGTS | 65 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Oct 26, 2010 | LINDENHURST | 50 | 0 | 1 | $10K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 2026 | WINTHROP HARBOR | 57 | $0 |
| Apr 2, 2026 | ANTIOCH | 56 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2025 | BARRINGTON HILLS | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2025 | BARRINGTON HILLS | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2025 | BARRINGTON HILLS | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2025 | LAKE BARRINGTON | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2025 | BARRINGTON | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | ISLAND LAKE | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 30, 2025 | LIBERTYVILLE | 61 | $0 |
| Jun 30, 2025 | HIGHLAND PARK | 56 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Lake County
- Hail 185
- Flash Flood 47
- Flood 41
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An amateur radio operator measured 55 mph winds in Grayslake, however, locally higher winds were estimated from damage reports across the area. Numerous branches were blown down on the 600 block of Stuart Street. Multiple trees were blown down near the intersection of Route 132 and Route 45. A large tree fell onto a car.
Tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Highland Park. A large tree was uprooted along Sheridan Road. When a back-up generator kicked on at a water plant, it created a pressure surge that blew a fist-sized hole in a water main.
A microburst impacted portions of Libertyville. A large tree fell onto a townhouse on Country Club Dr, rendering it uninhabitable, and power poles were downed near Liberty Lake. Tree damage was also noted in the same general area.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Lake County, Illinois?
299 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Lake County between 1960 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Lake County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Lake County measured 78.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Lake 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 Lake County, Illinois.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/illinois/lake-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.