Lake County tornado history

22 tornadoes touched Lake County, Illinois between 1950 and 2025 — about 0.3 a year. The strongest was rated F4 (Apr 11, 1965). Tornadoes here killed 7 and injured 215 people.

22tornadoes since 1950

F4strongest rating

7killed · 215 injured

12.1 milongest path · 1959

(E)F0(E)F1(E)F2(E)F3(E)F4(E)F5· dots = start point only

By rating

(E)F05

(E)F110

(E)F24

(E)F30

(E)F43

(E)F50

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: April.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
Apr 11, 1965	F4	9.1 mi	400 yd	75	6
Apr 21, 1967	F4	8.8 mi	150 yd	100	1
Sep 28, 1972	F4	5.2 mi	220 yd	20	0
May 18, 1997	F2	6 mi	73 yd	0	0
Apr 11, 1965	F2	4.5 mi	200 yd	0	0
Apr 19, 1996	F2	2 mi	100 yd	2	0
Apr 20, 1976	F2	0.8 mi	50 yd	2	0
Sep 26, 1959	F1	12.1 mi	10 yd	14	0
Aug 2, 2015	EF1	7.5 mi	300 yd	0	0
Aug 10, 2020	EF1	6.3 mi	150 yd	0	0
Sep 3, 2019	EF1	3.1 mi	200 yd	1	0
Mar 14, 1957	F1	2 mi	33 yd	0	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured
Feb 27, 2024	EF1	0.1 mi	40 yd	1
Jul 12, 2023	EF0	3.4 mi	125 yd	0
Jul 12, 2023	EF0	2.1 mi	125 yd	0
Aug 10, 2020	EF1	6.3 mi	150 yd	0
Sep 3, 2019	EF1	3.1 mi	200 yd	1
Aug 2, 2015	EF1	7.5 mi	300 yd	0
Apr 18, 2002	F0	0.1 mi	20 yd	0
May 18, 1997	F2	6 mi	73 yd	0
Apr 19, 1996	F2	2 mi	100 yd	2
Jun 29, 1990	F1	0.5 mi	100 yd	0
Jul 6, 1986	F0	12 mi	10 yd	0
Aug 9, 1979	F1	0.3 mi	30 yd	0

Deadliest: Apr 11, 1965, F4, 6 killed.

Nearby counties

Cook County, IL87 DuPage County, IL46 Kenosha County, WI12 McHenry County, IL30 Kane County, IL46 Racine County, WI24 Walworth County, WI41 Milwaukee County, WI21

Questions

How many tornadoes has Lake County, Illinois had?

22 tornadoes touched Lake County, Illinois between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 0.3 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Lake County?

The strongest rating recorded was F4 on Apr 11, 1965, with a 9.1-mile path and 6 deaths.

When is tornado season in Lake County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in April (7 of 22). Tornadoes can occur in any month, so keep alerts on year-round.

Right now: live tornado warnings map · alerts for your location. Dates link to that day’s full storm reports where available (2004 onward).