Flash Flood, Lake
- When
- May 16, 11:20 PM CST to May 17, 1:30 AM CST
- Where
- Lake County, Southeast
- Coordinates
- 42.349, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Illinois, May 16 to 17, 1996
5 inches of rain between the hours of 12:20 and 2:30 am CDT. Basement and street flooding was reported in the communities of Deerfield, Lincolnshire, Lake Forest, Vernon Hills and parts of Mundelein.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
Thunderstorms over a small part of Lake County Illinois on May 17th dumped as much as 4.5 inches of rain between the hours of 12:20 and 2:30 am CDT. Basement and street flooding was reported in the communities of Deerfield, Lincolnshire, Lake Forest, Vernon Hills and parts of Mundelein. A high school in Lincolnshire had to be closed from flooding on a below ground level floor.
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:17 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16 to 17, 1996
- Flooding in Montana, May 16, 1996
- Flood in California, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16 to 17, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16 to 17, 1996
- Flood in Utah, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16, 1996
- Flash Flood in Ohio, May 16, 1996
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5545146.