Oswego

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Kendall County, the county that contains Oswego.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Kendall County, the county that contains Oswego.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Kendall County, the county that contains Oswego.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2008Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Oswego, Route 25 was flooded and closed between Oswego and Montgomery Roads. Several cars drove around the barricades and at least one car was swept into the Fox River. The driver was able to escape. Four miles south of Little Rock, Jetter Road was flooded and closed. Three occupants of a car were rescued after their car was swept into Big Rock Creek. In Plano, many roads were flooded and closed, including Hale Road, Main Street, Miller Road and Creek Road. Extensive flooding was reported along Rock Creek Road. The Farnsworth House in Plano was damaged by flood waters from the Fox River. Extensive flooding was reported in Millington. Part of Fox River Drive was washed away and…

2. Jul 17, 1996Flash Flood$1.5 million
3. Aug 17, 2025Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At Oswego High School, prolonged intense rainfall overwhelmed the capacity of a storm drainage system. Up to two feet of water flooded a courtyard near the school. Water flowed from the courtyard into the school via a set of double doors and reached depths of 8 to 10 inches near the entrance to the building. Water proceeded to flow into hallways, athletic facilities, and the gymnasium. The damage required the gym floor to be replaced. Damages amounted to over $300,000, with the gym floor alone costing around $250,000.

4. Aug 17, 2025Heavy Rain$225,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall led to the failure of a drain pipe coupling at Oswego East High School. The failure took place on the third floor of the school causing water damage to spread to the lowest three levels. Hard ceilings had to be redone, carpets were extracted and cleaned, drywall was repaired, and lower insulation was replaced. Damages totaled between $200,000 and $250,000.

5. Jun 21, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large silo blew down onto an anhydrous ammonia tank, damaging a valve. The ammonia leak resulted in evacuation of several nearby residences. There was also a tree blown down on a road.

6. Oct 26, 2010High Wind, Kendall$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record setting low pressure over Minnesota produced high winds across northern Illinois on October 26, behind a strong cold front which swept across the state during the morning. The high winds caused around 200,000 Commonwealth Edison customers to lose power. Five hundred flights were canceled at O'Hare Airport. The high winds blew down tree limbs and power lines across northern Illinois. ||Some peak wind gusts included; 71 mph near Dixon in Lee County, 62 mph at Waukegan Airport in Lake County, and 58 mph at Peru in LaSalle County. ||Damage reports included; 448 reports of trees damaged in Chicago as well as many traffic lights, street lights and poles; wind blew a cargo…

7. Jun 10, 2015Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A photo was sent to NWS Chicago showing hail up to 4.75 inches in diameter near the intersection of Camden Drive and Kettleson Drive. Multiple vehicles were damaged including shattered windshields.

8. Jun 30, 2014Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Concentrated damage was found at two farmsteads including the destruction of an outbuilding and large trees snapped at their bases. Maximum winds were estimated to 100 mph.

9. Aug 17, 2025Heavy Rain$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Long Beach Elementary in Boulder Hill experienced water damage following prolonged heavy rainfall. Water entered the building via an existing leak in an old cast iron drain pipe. Most impacts were to one classroom and a portion of the school was closed while repairs were made. Drywall and insulation had to be replaced and the damaged drain pipes were replaced with new PVC pipes. Repairs totaled about $30,000.

10. Jun 12, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A half dozen large grain bins were dented including one bin that shifted several feet and had its roof peeled away. A large barn door was blown off into a house porch causing minor damage to the home.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

111°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−26°FJan 20, 1985

Warmest night

82°FJul 29, 1941

Coldest day

−14°FJan 31, 2019

Wettest day

16.91 inJul 18, 1996

Snowiest day

17.0 inFeb 2, 2011

Hottest year

2012mean 53.5°F

Coldest year

1917mean 44.9°F

Wettest year

201957.13 in

Driest year

195622.09 in

Snowiest season

69.8 in2013-14

Station Aurora Water (USC00110338), 675 ft elevation, 6.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 28, 2026; 98.2% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Kendall County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00110338.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.