Illinois Storm Data: Hail & Wind History Since 2010
Deduplicated storm activity for Illinois, fused from NWS warnings, storm reports, official records, and FEMA declarations.
Latest Illinois hail and wind storms
- Last reported hail in Illinois (0.75 in.+, screening): September 15, 2026 — 1.50 in. reported at Alta (Peoria County), SPC storm report.
- 2026 so far in Illinois: 45 hail days and 67 wind days statewide (days with a storm report or station gust at the screening thresholds; warnings alone never count).
| Date | Largest reported hail | Strongest gust | City pages hit |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 20, 2026 | — | 64 mph measured | — |
| September 15, 2026 | 1.50 in. reported | — | Lincoln, Canton |
| August 22, 2026 | 2.50 in. reported | — | Springfield |
| August 21, 2026 | 1.50 in. reported | — | Aurora, Elgin |
| August 19, 2026 | — | 52 mph measured | — |
| August 16, 2026 | — | 62 mph reported | Springfield |
| August 14, 2026 | — | 60 mph reported | — |
| August 13, 2026 | 1.00 in. reported | 67 mph measured | Champaign, Bloomington, Normal, Urbana, Charleston +1 more |
| August 12, 2026 | 1.00 in. reported | 71 mph reported | Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Urbana |
| August 11, 2026 | 1.00 in. reported | 97 mph reported | Chicago, Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Elgin +7 more |
Cities hit this week
City pages with a storm report or station gust at the screening thresholds (hail 0.75 in.+, wind 45 mph+) within 25 miles in the last 7 days, freshest first.
- Chicago hail & wind — Oct 16, 2026 · 52 mph gust measured (Indiana)
- Cicero hail & wind — Oct 16, 2026 · 52 mph gust measured (Indiana)
Illinois storm facts
- StormAuditor's analysis of NOAA and National Weather Service records found 7,157 deduplicated storm events (wind, hail, tornado, and flood; NWS warning products included) in Illinois in the 12 months ending October 21, 2026.
- Storm activity touched 102 of 102 Illinois counties over that period.
- The most impacted county in Illinois was Cook, with 422 events.
- The busiest day by event count in Illinois was June 11, 2026, with 478 events.
Illinois storm activity at a glance (last 12 months)
StormAuditor's consolidated public record currently shows 7,157 storm events impacting 102 of Illinois's 102 counties in the trailing 12 months: 2,758 wind events, 2,288 hail events, 773 tornado events, 1,338 flood events. Every count includes NWS warnings as well as observed reports, so tornado events mean tornado warnings and reports, not confirmed tornadoes.
Events are fused from National Weather Service warnings and Special Weather Statements, observed Local Storm Reports, official NCEI storm records, and FEMA disaster declarations, then consolidated into a single event table under the published methodology.
Wind covers thunderstorm and non-thunderstorm wind alike, so these counts measure something different from the NCEI entry counts in the history section below; the two are not comparable year to year. State totals also count NWS Special Weather Statements (radar-indicated hail or gusts below warning level); city pages leave those out.
Busiest days in Illinois by event count
Ranked by the number of 12-month events, NWS warnings included, so a day with many warnings can outrank a day with larger hail.
- June 11, 2026 — 478 events incl. warnings (flood, hail, tornado, wind)
- April 17, 2026 — 375 events incl. warnings (flood, hail, tornado, wind)
- April 27, 2026 — 369 events incl. warnings (flood, hail, tornado, wind)
- March 10, 2026 — 312 events incl. warnings (flood, hail, tornado, wind)
- June 17, 2026 — 301 events incl. warnings (flood, hail, tornado, wind)
Most impacted counties
Events of every type for each county — wind, hail, tornado and flood, NWS warnings and Special Weather Statements included. City pages count wind and hail events only, so a county number on a city page is never higher than the number here.
- Cook — 422 events
- DuPage — 255 events
- Tazewell — 193 events
- Will — 191 events
- Kane — 148 events
- Champaign — 140 events
- McLean — 133 events
- Vermilion — 126 events
How these numbers are counted
The storm numbers on this page are counted in four different ways, plus the free address check. Each answers a different question with its own size cutoffs, area and time span, so compare numbers within one group, not across groups.
- Storm days (latest hail and wind): A day in the last 12 months when at least one report anywhere in Illinois showed hail 0.75 in. or larger or wind of 45 mph or more (StormAuditor screening thresholds). Reports are NWS storm reports from spotters, the public and officials, plus weather-station gusts, which count from 50 mph. A warning on its own never makes a storm day. The "City pages hit" column and each city's last reported hail apply the same rule within 25 miles of the city. The statewide columns count reports inside Illinois only. City pages count reports within 25 miles of each city, which can reach into a neighboring state; those values name the other state, so a border city's value for a day can be higher than the Illinois value.
- Storm-date pages (NWS severe): A storm-date page is published only when at least one report or station gust within 25 miles of a city met the National Weather Service severe criteria (hail 1.00 in. or larger, or wind 58 mph or more), at least two separate observations were logged, and the day ranks among the most significant. A storm report that relays an airport weather station's reading (the same station, the same gust and the same time) counts once, as the station reading. Not every storm day gets a page; when one does, the page and the storm-day table show the same largest hail and strongest gust.
- Events (12-month counts): Events count the Illinois storm log: NWS warnings and Special Weather Statements (a lower-level NWS alert), storm reports (wind 50 mph+, hail 0.75 in.+), station gusts, NCEI entries and FEMA disaster declarations, for each county affected, floods included. One event is one place on one day, counted separately for each type (wind, hail, tornado, flood). A weather station or storm-report point counts once a day, at that day's highest reading, however many readings it filed; a place with hail and wind on the same day is two events. NWS warnings and Special Weather Statements count once per county per day, and NCEI entries and FEMA declarations once per place per day. A storm report that relays an airport weather station's reading (the same station, the same gust and the same time) counts once, as the station reading. The same report arriving through another feed (SPC or NCEI) is one record. The most impacted counties list uses this count. City pages count only wind and hail within 25 miles and leave out floods and Special Weather Statements, so city counts do not add up to the state total, and a city page's county count is a wind-and-hail count that is never higher than the same county's number here.
- NOAA history (since 2010): The official NOAA storm record (NCEI Storm Events) in Illinois from January 1, 2010 to the day before the 12-month window starts: hail 0.50 in.+, thunderstorm wind 40 mph+ and tornadoes. It is a separate, older record with its own "storm days" (days with any entry), so its counts are not compared with the 12-month numbers.
- Free Report Snapshot: A free YES/NO estimate for one address, from radar and wind analysis at the property rather than area reports, at the same screening thresholds: hail 0.75 in. or wind 45 mph.
Full method: Methodology and Data Sources.
Illinois hail and wind history in NOAA NCEI records, 2010–Oct. 2025
This section covers January 1, 2010 through October 20, 2025. Storms from October 21, 2025 on are in the 12-month summary above, so no date is counted in both.
Wind is the more common entry — 12,365 thunderstorm wind reports to 6,153 hail reports. In all: 20,031 NCEI Storm Events entries in Illinois, spread over 1,042 storm days.
The largest hail in these records for Illinois was 4.75 in. (larger than softball size), reported on June 10, 2015 in Kendall County. Hail of 2 inches or more appears in 16 different years of this record, the latest being 2025 through Oct. 20. Measured thunderstorm gusts topped out at 105 mph (Marshall County, July 15, 2024). NCEI also lists 1,513 tornado entries in Illinois — one entry per county a tornado crossed.
Hail peaks in April (25% of all hail reports); thunderstorm wind peaks in June. December through February accounts for 43 storm days.
Storm days ranged from 53 in 2021 to 76 in 2017. Across 2022–2024, Illinois averaged 63 storm days a year, below the 15-year average of 65.
- Average: 65 storm days a year (2010–2024)
- April and May: 48% of all hail reports
- Most hail reports in one year: 1,160 in 2023
- Hail of 1 in. or larger reported in every full year, 2010–2024
| Year | Hail reports | Thunderstorm wind reports | Tornado entries | Storm days | Largest hail | Strongest measured gust |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 294 | 800 | 55 | 69 | 2.75 in. | 100 mph |
| 2011 | 678 | 882 | 78 | 75 | 4.50 in. | 96 mph |
| 2012 | 546 | 398 | 37 | 75 | 4.50 in. | 92 mph |
| 2013 | 282 | 514 | 71 | 62 | 4.00 in. | 90 mph |
| 2014 | 303 | 365 | 60 | 62 | 4.00 in. | 77 mph |
| 2015 | 317 | 359 | 83 | 61 | 4.75 in. | 74 mph |
| 2016 | 227 | 409 | 48 | 64 | 4.50 in. | 77 mph |
| 2017 | 428 | 535 | 61 | 76 | 3.00 in. | 78 mph |
| 2018 | 202 | 422 | 60 | 63 | 3.00 in. | 78 mph |
| 2019 | 248 | 587 | 51 | 75 | 3.50 in. | 83 mph |
| 2020 | 204 | 759 | 74 | 57 | 3.00 in. | 92 mph |
| 2021 | 198 | 1,146 | 164 | 53 | 3.00 in. | 85 mph |
| 2022 | 372 | 1,436 | 78 | 56 | 3.00 in. | 81 mph |
| 2023 | 1,160 | 1,838 | 290 | 61 | 4.00 in. | 90 mph |
| 2024 | 373 | 959 | 174 | 72 | 4.00 in. | 105 mph |
| 2025 through Oct. 20 | 321 | 956 | 129 | 61 | 3.00 in. | 83 mph |
Counties with the most NCEI storm reports, 2010–Oct. 2025
| County | All entries | Hail | Thunderstorm wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 1,544 | 361 | 1,137 |
| Will County | 633 | 172 | 405 |
| Kane County | 597 | 155 | 409 |
| Sangamon County | 597 | 246 | 325 |
| DuPage County | 536 | 129 | 373 |
| Champaign County | 495 | 139 | 330 |
| Vermilion County | 438 | 129 | 282 |
| Tazewell County | 418 | 153 | 242 |
| Peoria County | 414 | 166 | 231 |
| McHenry County | 402 | 118 | 268 |
Download this history: CSV · JSON at https://www.stormauditor.com/downloads/storm-history/il.json (free, open license, cite StormAuditor).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (thunderstorm wind, hail, and tornado entries; hail 0.50 in. or larger, wind 40 mph or more; wind converted from knots).
Illinois storm history questions, 2010–Oct. 2025
What is the largest hail reported in Illinois, 2010–Oct. 2025?
4.75 in., larger than softball size, reported on June 10, 2015 in Kendall County, per NCEI. Hail of 2 inches or more appears in 16 years of this record in all, most recently 2023, 2024 and 2025 through Oct. 20.
What was Illinois's most active storm year, 2010–Oct. 2025?
2017, with 76 storm days (428 hail reports, 535 thunderstorm wind reports, 61 tornado entries). The 15-year average is 65 storm days.
How often does Illinois get hail?
NCEI's records average 389 hail reports a year here over 2010–2024, alongside 761 thunderstorm wind reports. Hail of 1 inch or larger was reported in every one of those years.
When is hail season in Illinois?
April has the most hail reports (1,551, 2010–Oct. 2025), followed by May (1,389) and June (845).
How strong were measured thunderstorm winds in Illinois, 2010–Oct. 2025?
105 mph, measured on July 15, 2024 in Marshall County. Only gusts NCEI lists as measured count here; gusts measured on a date and county with a tornado entry, and entries of 120 knots or more (known entry errors), are left out.
Working storm claims? Roofing contractors, public adjusters, and insurance adjusters work from this same public storm record with statewide hail and wind maps and per-address reports — see StormAuditor for professionals.
Sources: NWS alerts (api.weather.gov) · NWS Local Storm Reports via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet · ASOS/AWOS station gusts via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet · NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database · every StormAuditor data source.
Download the Illinois dataset (free)
The full consolidated Illinois event list for the trailing 12 months — dates, counties, hazard types, severities, measured gusts and hail sizes, with coordinates; source records deduplicated, and each NWS warning product listed per affected county — downloads free and stays current with the live record: download CSV · JSON at https://www.stormauditor.com/downloads/storm-data/il.json. Free to reuse under the data license; the JSON file carries a field dictionary and provenance notes.
Research a specific Illinois address
Statewide counts tell you where activity concentrated; they do not tell you what happened at one property. For an individual address:
- Run the Free Report Snapshot — an instant YES/NO against StormAuditor's screening thresholds (wind ≥ 45 mph, hail ≥ 0.75 in., deliberately below the official NWS severe criteria).
- Use the Address Lookup for warnings, storm reports, and station observations at the address.
- Buy a full Weather Report for $2.99 covering every qualifying storm date at the address.
Browse day-by-day activity on the Storm Calendar (Pro plans and higher) or compare states on the Storm Data hub.
All values are derived from public NOAA and NWS data under StormAuditor's published methodology (see Limitations). Data last refreshed October 21, 2026.
See where recent storms tracked on the statewide Illinois hail map and wind map (the Hail and Wind Explorers, included with Pro+ and Organization plans), or check the county impact heatmap (free with an account).
Illinois cities A–Z: last reported hail
- Arlington Heights hail & wind history — last hail August 9, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Aurora hail & wind history — last hail August 21, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Bloomington hail & wind history — last hail June 17, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Canton hail & wind history — last hail September 15, 2026 (1.50 in. reported)
- Champaign hail & wind history — last hail June 16, 2026 (1.75 in. reported)
- Charleston hail & wind history — last hail August 11, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Chicago hail & wind history — last hail August 9, 2026 (0.75 in. reported)
- Cicero hail & wind history — last hail August 9, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Danville hail & wind history — last hail June 16, 2026 (1.75 in. reported)
- Decatur hail & wind history — last hail June 17, 2026 (3.00 in. reported)
- Elgin hail & wind history — last hail August 21, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Evanston hail & wind history — last hail August 9, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Joliet hail & wind history — last hail August 9, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Lincoln hail & wind history — last hail September 15, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Naperville hail & wind history — last hail August 9, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Normal hail & wind history — last hail June 17, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Schaumburg hail & wind history — last hail August 9, 2026 (1.00 in. reported)
- Springfield hail & wind history — last hail August 22, 2026 (0.88 in. reported)
- Urbana hail & wind history — last hail June 16, 2026 (1.75 in. reported)
Neighboring states: Iowa storm data · Indiana storm data · Kentucky storm data · Missouri storm data · Wisconsin storm data
Guides for reading this data
Storm-day records in Illinois
The newest storm-date pages for Illinois cities: a report or station gust within 25 miles of the city met NWS severe criteria (hail 1.00 in.+ or wind 58 mph+), with at least two separate observations. Each page lists the reports, station gusts and a free way to check one address:
- Arlington Heights, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 89 mph)
- Aurora, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 97 mph)
- Chicago, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 99 mph)
- Cicero, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 99 mph)
- Elgin, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 97 mph)
- Joliet, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 97 mph)
- Naperville, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 97 mph)
- Schaumburg, IL — August 11, 2026 (gusts 89 mph)
- Arlington Heights, IL — July 27, 2026 (hail 2.50 in., gusts 82 mph)
- Aurora, IL — July 27, 2026 (hail 3.00 in., gusts 78 mph)
Cite or link to this data — free
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About this page: built by Storm Auditor LLC from public NOAA/NWS records — deduplicated warnings, storm reports, station measurements, and official records on a rolling 12-month window, under the published methodology. See the StormAuditor Editorial Team for how content is produced.
Read more: Recent Major Storm Days in Illinois: Hail & Wind History