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Lake Michigan at Calumet Harbor

Highest listed crest 6.07 ftFlood stage 5.0 ft85 crests since 1905

The Lake Michigan at Calumet Harbor crested above flood stage 29 times among the 85 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1905 to 2020. The highest, 6.07 ft on August 11, 2020, was moderate flooding, 1.07 feet above flood stage.

The gauge

Highest listed crest
6.07 ft
August 11, 2020
Flood stage
5.0 ft
Major flooding from 7.0 ft
Crests at major
0
29 above flood stage
Most recent flood crest
August 29, 2020
5.87 ft, minor flooding
Location
Cook County
Near East Chicago (7.2 mi), Dolton (7.5 mi), Riverdale (7.8 mi)
Identifiers
NWS CMTI2
No USGS station

Flood stages

The thresholds the National Weather Service uses for this gauge today, and how many listed crests reached each.

Flood categories, Lake Michigan at Calumet Harbor
Action stage4.017Apr 14, 2019The level at which the NWS or its partners begin to take action
Flood stage (minor)5.027Aug 29, 2020Minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat
Moderate flood stage6.02Aug 11, 2020Some inundation of structures and roads near the stream
Major flood stage7.00—Extensive inundation of structures and roads

Every listed crest

85 crests from 1905 to 2020. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.

Listed crests at the Lake Michigan at Calumet Harbor, 1905 to 2020 234567ft Flood stage 5.0 ftMajor 7.0 ft May 12, 1905: 3.91 ft, below flood stageMay 30, 1906: 3.63 ft, below flood stageJul 4, 1907: 3.35 ft, below flood stageMay 29, 1908: 3.72 ft, below flood stageJul 2, 1909: 3.72 ft, below flood stageAug 23, 1910: 3.40 ft, below flood stageAug 28, 1912: 2.75 ft, below flood stageNov 9, 1913: 3.56 ft, below flood stageJun 26, 1914: 2.81 ft, below flood stageAug 13, 1916: 3.07 ft, below flood stageMay 19, 1917: 4.15 ft, action stageMay 10, 1918: 4.59 ft, action stageJun 27, 1919: 3.44 ft, below flood stageJun 16, 1920: 3.32 ft, below flood stageApr 16, 1921: 2.89 ft, below flood stageJun 10, 1922: 3.19 ft, below flood stageAug 21, 1928: 2.74 ft, below flood stageJun 30, 1930: 3.27 ft, below flood stageJul 28, 1930: 3.27 ft, below flood stageOct 27, 1939: 2.97 ft, below flood stageAug 1, 1942: 3.09 ft, below flood stageJul 29, 1943: 3.83 ft, below flood stageApr 11, 1944: 3.51 ft, below flood stageJun 2, 1945: 3.89 ft, below flood stageApr 3, 1946: 4.54 ft, action stageMay 28, 1947: 4.14 ft, action stageMay 9, 1948: 4.20 ft, action stageNov 26, 1950: 3.32 ft, below flood stageNov 7, 1951: 4.78 ft, action stageJun 11, 1952: 5.68 ft, minor floodingAug 1, 1953: 4.70 ft, action stageJul 6, 1954: 5.21 ft, minor floodingApr 19, 1955: 3.99 ft, below flood stageMay 6, 1956: 3.37 ft, below flood stageOct 24, 1957: 2.57 ft, below flood stageMar 22, 1960: 3.68 ft, below flood stageOct 19, 1961: 2.89 ft, below flood stageMay 10, 1962: 2.95 ft, below flood stageDec 25, 1965: 3.44 ft, below flood stageAug 30, 1967: 2.55 ft, below flood stageDec 28, 1968: 3.61 ft, below flood stageJul 4, 1969: 4.06 ft, action stageSep 8, 1985: 5.82 ft, minor floodingDec 23, 1985: 5.70 ft, minor floodingOct 4, 1986: 5.80 ft, minor floodingFeb 8, 1987: 5.87 ft, minor floodingJul 8, 1991: 3.31 ft, below flood stageMar 10, 1992: 3.49 ft, below flood stageOct 2, 1996: 3.73 ft, below flood stageJul 8, 1997: 4.82 ft, action stageMay 31, 1998: 5.82 ft, minor floodingMay 21, 2004: 2.51 ft, below flood stageSep 30, 2011: 2.40 ft, below flood stageOct 20, 2011: 2.39 ft, below flood stageOct 31, 2014: 4.16 ft, action stageSep 19, 2015: 3.60 ft, below flood stageApr 8, 2016: 4.02 ft, action stageJul 12, 2017: 4.07 ft, action stageApr 14, 2018: 4.35 ft, action stageNov 26, 2018: 4.74 ft, action stageFeb 6, 2019: 4.12 ft, action stageMar 30, 2019: 4.23 ft, action stageApr 14, 2019: 4.55 ft, action stageJun 1, 2019: 5.52 ft, minor floodingJul 20, 2019: 5.68 ft, minor floodingSep 5, 2019: 5.31 ft, minor floodingSep 11, 2019: 5.28 ft, minor floodingSep 28, 2019: 5.41 ft, minor floodingOct 2, 2019: 5.53 ft, minor floodingOct 16, 2019: 5.18 ft, minor floodingOct 26, 2019: 5.32 ft, minor floodingOct 31, 2019: 5.68 ft, minor floodingNov 11, 2019: 5.34 ft, minor floodingDec 1, 2019: 5.80 ft, minor floodingDec 6, 2019: 5.37 ft, minor floodingDec 29, 2019: 5.49 ft, minor floodingJan 11, 2020: 5.90 ft, minor floodingFeb 26, 2020: 5.26 ft, minor floodingMar 6, 2020: 5.53 ft, minor floodingApr 29, 2020: 6.01 ft, moderate floodingJun 3, 2020: 5.97 ft, minor floodingJul 10, 2020: 5.58 ft, minor floodingAug 11, 2020: 6.07 ft, moderate floodingAug 25, 2020: 5.81 ft, minor floodingAug 29, 2020: 5.87 ft, minor flooding Highest, 6.07 ft, Aug 11, 2020 192019401960198020002020

Crests at or above flood stage, by decade

Crests at or above flood stage per decade, Lake Michigan at Calumet Harbor 1900s: 0 1910s: 0 1920s: 0 1930s: 0 1940s: 0 1950s: 2 1960s: 0 1970s: 0 1980s: 4 1990s: 1 2000s: 0 2010s: 13 13 2020s: 9 1900s1910s1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
  1. These are the crests the local National Weather Service office lists for the gauge: the highest on record and recent crests. Lesser floods between them may be missing, so counts by decade are a floor.
  2. Categories use today's flood stages. Levees, dams and channel changes since a crest can make old and new stages not directly comparable.

Highest crests

The 50 highest of 85 listed crests.

Highest listed crests, Lake Michigan at Calumet Harbor
1Aug 11, 20206.07+1.07Moderate—
2Apr 29, 20206.01+1.01Moderate—
3Jun 3, 20205.97+0.97Minor—
4Jan 11, 20205.90+0.90Minor—
5Feb 8, 19875.87+0.87Minor—
6Aug 29, 20205.87+0.87Minor—
7Sep 8, 19855.82+0.82Minor—
8May 31, 19985.82+0.82Minor—
9Aug 25, 20205.81+0.81Minor—
10Oct 4, 19865.80+0.80Minor—
11Dec 1, 20195.80+0.80Minor—
12Dec 23, 19855.70+0.70Minor—
13Jun 11, 19525.68+0.68Minor—
14Jul 20, 20195.68+0.68Minor—
15Oct 31, 20195.68+0.68Minor—
16Jul 10, 20205.58+0.58Minor—
17Oct 2, 20195.53+0.53Minor—
18Mar 6, 20205.53+0.53Minor—
19Jun 1, 20195.52+0.52Minor—
20Dec 29, 20195.49+0.49Minor—
21Sep 28, 20195.41+0.41Minor—
22Dec 6, 20195.37+0.37Minor—
23Nov 11, 20195.34+0.34Minor—
24Oct 26, 20195.32+0.32Minor—
25Sep 5, 20195.31+0.31Minor—
26Sep 11, 20195.28+0.28Minor—
27Feb 26, 20205.26+0.26Minor—
28Jul 6, 19545.21+0.21Minor—
29Oct 16, 20195.18+0.18Minor—
30Jul 8, 19974.82−0.18Action—
31Nov 7, 19514.78−0.22Action—
32Nov 26, 20184.74−0.26Action—
33Aug 1, 19534.70−0.30Action—
34May 10, 19184.59−0.41Action—
35Apr 14, 20194.55−0.45Action—
36Apr 3, 19464.54−0.46Action—
37Apr 14, 20184.35−0.65Action—
38Mar 30, 20194.23−0.77Action—
39May 9, 19484.20−0.80Action—
40Oct 31, 20144.16−0.84Action—
41May 19, 19174.15−0.85Action—
42May 28, 19474.14−0.86Action—
43Feb 6, 20194.12−0.88Action—
44Jul 12, 20174.07−0.93Action—
45Jul 4, 19694.06−0.94Action—
46Apr 8, 20164.02−0.98Action—
47Apr 19, 19553.99−1.01Below flood stage—
48May 12, 19053.91−1.09Below flood stage—
49Jun 2, 19453.89−1.11Below flood stage—
50Jul 29, 19433.83−1.17Below flood stage—

Other gauges in Cook County

Flood gauges in Cook County
Bellwood9.013.57 ft, Jul 24, 20104
Wheeling5.08.46 ft, Jun 26, 20136
Flossmoor9.013.08 ft, Apr 17, 20060
Markham10.012.00 ft, Oct 11, 19542
Chicago (Columbus Dr)3.05.50 ft, Oct 10, 19542
Chicago (Western Ave)4.05.26 ft, May 17, 20200
Chicago Heights10.012.87 ft, Sep 15, 20080
Des Plaines (Algonquin Road)13.021.00 ft, Sep 14, 20082
Lyons18.022.87 ft, Apr 18, 20132
River Forest16.018.98 ft, Apr 19, 20131
Riverside7.511.28 ft, Apr 18, 20137
Des Plaines15.020.92 ft, Apr 19, 20135
Lemont10.013.24 ft, May 18, 20200
Willow Springs10.010.57 ft, Apr 18, 20130
Lake Michigan at Chicago (Chicago Lock)4.05.98 ft, Apr 29, 20200
Lansing7.010.18 ft, Oct 11, 19540
South Holland16.020.50 ft, Nov 28, 19905
Lemont6.011.10 ft, Jul 18, 19961
Mount Prospect5.08.08 ft, Aug 14, 19872
Oak Forest6.09.50 ft, Apr 5, 19472
Midlothian8.59.98 ft, Feb 2, 20160
Chicago (Grand Ave)3.05.70 ft, Oct 10, 19543
Chicago (Pulaski Rd)18.022.50 ft, Aug 14, 19871
Niles10.012.13 ft, Sep 14, 20082
Elgin5.57.69 ft, Sep 13, 20080
Elk Grove Village17.020.80 ft, May 18, 20200
Rolling Meadows8.514.03 ft, Aug 14, 19870
Western Springs7.510.65 ft, Apr 18, 20130
Worth31.036.50 ft, Oct 11, 19542
Glenwood8.511.14 ft, Jul 13, 19570
Thornton9.017.06 ft, Jun 14, 19816
Palos Park9.010.30 ft, Oct 10, 19540
Des Plaines9.015.09 ft, Jun 10, 19677
Northbrook7.010.10 ft, Aug 14, 19877

Cook County: every hazard · River floods across the country · Illinois

NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge CMTI2, retrieved October 30, 2026. Stages in feet on the gauge's own datum, not elevation. Crests are as the National Weather Service lists them; preliminary values may be revised.