St. Charles

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.

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 Kane County, the county that contains St. Charles.

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 Kane County, the county that contains St. Charles.

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 Kane County, the county that contains St. Charles.

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. Jul 17, 1996Flash Flood$14.5 million
2. Aug 23, 2007Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred along the Fox River throughout Kane County, In East Dundee, Richardson Subdivision was particularly hit hard by the flooding. In South Elgin, some of the hardest hit areas included South River Street, North Water Street, Arthur Avenue, Josephine Avenue, Ross Avenue, and Mavis Avenue. 10 Families were evacuated in Elgin as flood waters continued to rise on August 24th. Bike paths and other green space along the river were inundated. Another area affected included the Valley View Subdivision in St Charles. Kane County officials estimated that flooding damaged more than 600 homes and businesses, and forced at least 80 residents from their homes. Flooding…

3. Sep 14, 2008Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding or significant flooding was reported across most of Kane County, including street closures due to flooding, basement flooding and creek, stream and river flooding. A few of the more extensive flooding reports included a wall of a retention pond that was washed away in South Elgin, flooding along the Fox River in Batavia, eight cars were pulled out of flood waters along Route 56 and in residential areas in Elgin near Popular Creek. Numerous other vehicles were abandoned in flood waters.

4. Sep 13, 2008Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding began during the predawn hours and continued into the early afternoon hours across many locations in Kane County. In Geneva, basement flooding was reported in the Emergency Operations Center, and the intersection of Route 25 and Fabyan Parkway was closed. Near Elburn, Empire Road was flooded east of Hampton Road, the intersection of Route 64 and Route 47 was flooded under the train tracks. Residential flooding was reported in Lily Lake. In Elgin, numerous roads and intersections were closed including, Randall and Big Timber Roads, Canyon and Valley Creek, Mark and Mildred Roads, and Jewett and Orange Streets. Flooding was also reported along Beckman Trail, the 300…

5. Jul 5, 2023Lightning$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a townhouse in St Charles causing a fire to break out. The fire spread into the next townhouse severely damaging both buildings. Two firefighters were injured while battling the fire. The exact extent of their injuries is unknown, but both of them were released from the hospital within the next day. Damages were estimated at more than $700,000.

6. Jul 11, 2017Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms produced torrential rain which caused widespread flooding and flash flooding across northern portions of Kane County. Numerous cars were stuck in water near Route 47 and Route 72 near Pingree Grove. Many roads in Elgin and west of Elgin were flooded and impassable. Basement flooding was also reported in many areas with 76 homes suffering water damage. Two day storm total rainfall amounts included 7.31 inches one mile south of Elgin; 5.00 inches one east of Carpentersville; 4.60 inches in Gilberts and 4.08 inches two miles northeast of Elgin.

7. Aug 4, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts were estimated to 70 mph in St. Charles. High winds tore portions off the roof at St. Charles North High School. Roof debris, light poles, tree limbs and a crushed portable toilet littered the school grounds. About ten heating, ventilation and cooling units on the roof were either damaged or blown completely off the roof. Damage was also reported inside the school. A 150 year old oak tree was uprooted near Oxmoor Court. The falling tree broke a skylight on a house. Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down across many parts of St. Charles.

8. Jul 27, 2011Lightning$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning sparked a fire at the Parks and Recreation administration building.

9. Aug 8, 2007Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Aurora Airport measured 3.22 inches in 84 minutes. Significant flooding was reported at the intersections of Patricia and Snow Streets as well as Main Street and Highway 47. Businesses and basements flooded in Big Rock, along with water over roads.

10. Jan 24, 2018Winter Weather, Kane$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Freezing drizzle and pockets of freezing rain developed during the early morning hours of January 24th across portions of northeast Illinois in the Chicago Metro area, which quickly led to icy conditions on roadways. Several hundred accidents were reported across the southern and western suburbs of the Chicago area. Several more vehicles spun off pavement into ditches. Numerous motorists abandoned their vehicles.||Three of the accidents resulted in fatalities. In Cook County, one person died in Tinley Park when a semi-tractor trailer came across the median and struck a car on LaGrange Road south of 175th Street. A second person was killed when a pick-up truck lost control onto the…

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

104°F2 times, most recently Jul 13, 1995

All-time low

−27°FJan 20, 1985

Warmest night

83°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−11°F2 times, most recently Jan 18, 1994

Wettest day

6.86 inJul 23, 2011

Snowiest day

18.6 inJan 2, 1999

Hottest year

2024mean 55.0°F

Coldest year

1985mean 47.1°F

Wettest year

200850.86 in

Driest year

196221.77 in

Snowiest season

83.7 in1978-79

Station Chicago O'hare International Airport (USW00094846), 672 ft elevation, 19.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1958 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% 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 Kane 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 USW00094846.
• 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.