Lake County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Illinois Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Lake County is lower than Illinois average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Lake County is lower than Illinois average and is higher than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #68
| Lake County | 0.03 |
| Illinois | 0.24 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Lake County | 0.0000 |
| Illinois | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #86
| Lake County | 177.51 |
| Illinois | 220.15 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 11,534 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Lake County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 34 | Cold: | 101 | Dense Fog: | 154 | Drought: | 46 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 880 | Hail: | 2,727 | Heat: | 117 | Heavy Snow: | 316 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 57 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 202 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 5,594 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 7 | Winter Storm: | 317 | Winter Weather: | 105 |
| Other: | 877 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Lake County.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Lake County.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Lake County.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 37 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Lake County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 21.1 | 1972-09-28 | 4 | 42°17'N / 87°52'W | 42°22'N / 87°50'W | 5.20 Miles | 220 Yards | 0 | 20 | 2.5M | 0 | Lake |
| 22.0 | 1976-04-20 | 2 | 42°27'N / 87°50'W | 0.80 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 2 | 25K | 0 | Lake | |
| 22.0 | 1996-04-19 | 2 | 42°27'N / 87°50'W | 42°27'N / 87°50'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 2 | 6.6M | 0 | Lake |
| Brief Description: The roof was torn off an apartment building. Over 400 homes and businesses sustained damage and 32 received major damage. Five trucks were overturned at a plant. Homes and garages had roof damage. Numerous trees were damaged or blown down. Injuries included a child with a broken leg and a woman cut by glass. | |||||||||||
| 27.3 | 1965-04-11 | 2 | 42°23'N / 88°01'W | 42°22'N / 87°55'W | 4.50 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lake |
| 27.9 | 1997-05-18 | 2 | 42°25'N / 88°03'W | 42°22'N / 87°54'W | 6.00 Miles | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lake |
| Brief Description: A tornado touched down on the southeast side of Lindenhurst and damaged trees and the roofs of several homes. The tornado reached F2 intensity near Sand Lake Road and Route 45 where 2 barns were destroyed, two foot diameter oak trees were broken off or uprooted and the roof was taken off a nursery. Signs were blown down along Sand Lake Road and Stearns School Road. A subdivision on the north side of Gurnee had damage to trees, a chimney blown off a house, windows broken, walls damaged, a garage door blown in and a fence blown down. Three quater inch hail also occurred in Lindenhurst. | |||||||||||
| 28.4 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 41°56'N / 87°54'W | 42°06'N / 87°42'W | 15.10 Miles | 150 Yards | 2 | 41 | 2.5M | 0 | Cook |
| 28.6 | 1961-03-04 | 2 | 41°54'N / 87°42'W | 41°59'N / 87°35'W | 7.90 Miles | 100 Yards | 1 | 115 | 25.0M | 0 | Cook |
| 29.3 | 1972-08-25 | 2 | 42°02'N / 87°51'W | 1.80 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Cook | |
| 29.8 | 1966-06-09 | 2 | 42°06'N / 87°56'W | 2.50 Miles | 33 Yards | 1 | 30 | 0K | 0 | Cook | |
| 30.0 | 1970-04-30 | 2 | 42°00'N / 87°54'W | 42°03'N / 87°49'W | 4.90 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 9 | 25K | 0 | Cook |
| 30.8 | 1958-10-09 | 2 | 42°24'N / 88°12'W | 42°23'N / 87°52'W | 16.70 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Lake |
| 32.1 | 1959-09-26 | 2 | 41°58'N / 87°58'W | 42°02'N / 87°48'W | 9.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Du Page |
| 33.1 | 1965-05-26 | 2 | 41°59'N / 87°55'W | 42°00'N / 87°53'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cook | ||
| 33.4 | 1975-06-17 | 2 | 42°05'N / 88°00'W | 1.50 Miles | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cook | |
| 33.6 | 1966-06-09 | 2 | 42°06'N / 88°01'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Cook | |||
| 36.8 | 1976-03-12 | 2 | 41°55'N / 87°55'W | 41°56'N / 87°54'W | 0 | 25 | 2.5M | 0 | Du Page | ||
| 37.4 | 1967-04-21 | 4 | 42°12'N / 88°12'W | 42°13'N / 88°06'W | 4.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 1 | 97 | 2.5M | 0 | Lake |
| 39.1 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 42°17'N / 88°13'W | 42°17'N / 88°11'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lake | ||
| 40.7 | 1959-10-08 | 2 | 42°20'N / 88°14'W | 2.00 Miles | 90 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Mchenry | |
| 40.8 | 1965-05-26 | 2 | 41°54'N / 88°10'W | 41°59'N / 87°55'W | 13.80 Miles | 70 Yards | 0 | 11 | 250K | 0 | Du Page |
| 42.1 | 1967-04-21 | 4 | 42°09'N / 88°16'W | 42°12'N / 88°12'W | 4.30 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 3 | 2.5M | 0 | Mchenry |
| 43.3 | 2008-01-07 | 3 | 42°33'N / 88°18'W | 42°36'N / 88°08'W | 9.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 15 | 13.7M | 0K | Kenosha |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado in western Kenosha County was a continuation of the tornado that spun up 2.27 mils NE of Pell Lake in southeastern Walworth County. It crossed into Kenosha County about 0.4 mile north of where CTH U in Walworth County crosses the county line and becomes CTH F in Walworth County. The tornado continued northeast to just east of the intersection of STH 50 and CTH O, crossed STH 83 just north of 51st Street just north of New Munster Creek, passed through the Village of Wheatland, turned more east and crossed 308th Ave. just north of Peterson Creek, and then dissipated near a pond between CTH PH and 41st Street (Town Rd). Fifteen people in the Civil Town of Wheatland sustained minor injuries. Also in the Civil Town of Wheatland, 7 homes were affected, 25 sustained minor damage, 27 had major damage, and 25 were destroyed. In the Civil Town of Brighton, 10 homes were affected, 3 had minor damage, 3 had major damage, and 4 were destroyed. About 160 people were homeless due to residential damage. This tornado traveled over frozen ponds and creeks, as well as snow piles leftover from recent snowmelt. Average path width was about 100 yards. The wind speed was estimated at 150 to 160 mph (DI 2 - FR12, DOD 8). For a couple homes, the visual damage suggested an EF4 rating, however insufficient anchoring allowed these structures to fail at a lower wind speed. Additionally, other nearby damage indicators didn't support an EF4 rating. The specific starting location in Kenosha County was 42.556342,-88.30533, and the ending location was 42.60061,-88.13524. For plotting purposes, here are a couple mid-point locations of this tornadoe's path: crossing of STH 83 - 42.59297, -88.22230, and the crossing of CTH B - 42.59756, -88.15928. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Very rare, mid-winter, severe storms affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on January 7th - in the form of two tornadoes and scattered, large, hailstones, and downburst winds. The last time a tornado occurred in January in Wisconsin was on the 24th in 1967 in Green and Rock Counties (25-mile track). On January 7th, a low pressure moved northeast through western Wisconsin, allowing a warm front to push through southern Wisconsin. Temperatures rose into the lower to mid 60s over southeast Wisconsin with surface dewpoints peaking in the mid to upper 50s, resulting in moderate amounts of instablity. Strong, veering winds from the surface to the jet stream level generated sufficient wind shear that supported rotating updrafts in scattered supercell thunderstorms over southeast Wisconsin. A supercell thunderstorm, that had spun up a tornado in northeastern Illinois previously, then crossed the state line into south-central Walworth County (southeast of the city of Walworth) where it intesified and eventually spun up a tornado near Pell Lake that traveled into western Kenosha County. Another supercell spun up a tornado over the northern reaches of the city of Kensoha. Other scattered thunderstorms on this day across south-central and southeast Wisconsin dumped large hail up to 3/4 inch in diameter. | |||||||||||
| 44.1 | 1963-04-19 | 2 | 42°18'N / 88°18'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Mchenry | |||
| 44.2 | 1959-10-08 | 2 | 42°46'N / 88°04'W | 2.20 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 2 | 25K | 0 | Racine | |
| 44.4 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 42°13'N / 88°23'W | 42°17'N / 88°13'W | 9.10 Miles | 400 Yards | 6 | 75 | 0K | 0 | Mchenry |
| 45.0 | 1966-03-21 | 2 | 42°40'N / 88°19'W | 42°41'N / 88°03'W | 13.30 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Racine |
| 45.2 | 1967-04-21 | 4 | 41°40'N / 87°50'W | 41°44'N / 87°33'W | 15.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 33 | 500 | 25.0M | 0 | Cook |
| 47.3 | 1973-04-21 | 2 | 41°51'N / 88°06'W | 0.20 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Cook | |
| 47.8 | 1972-07-17 | 2 | 41°52'N / 88°08'W | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Du Page | |||
| 47.8 | 1957-04-19 | 2 | 42°39'N / 88°18'W | 42°39'N / 88°14'W | 2.70 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Racine |
| 47.8 | 1956-08-23 | 2 | 42°02'N / 88°17'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Kane | |||
| 48.9 | 1972-09-28 | 2 | 42°48'N / 88°09'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Racine | |
| 48.9 | 1967-04-21 | 2 | 42°00'N / 88°17'W | 0.30 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Kane | |
| 49.0 | 1976-06-13 | 4 | 41°42'N / 87°56'W | 41°44'N / 87°55'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Du Page | ||
| 49.5 | 1969-06-29 | 2 | 42°50'N / 88°12'W | 42°54'N / 87°57'W | 13.10 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Waukesha |
| 49.6 | 1966-04-19 | 2 | 41°49'N / 88°07'W | 0.50 Mile | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Du Page | |
| 49.8 | 1965-11-12 | 2 | 41°48'N / 88°06'W | 1.00 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Du Page | |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.