Wonder Lake, Illinois
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1926 and the latest in 1992. It stands in McHenry Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60097. The Survey maps it on the Richmond quadrangle. It stands 837 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 17 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1926 USGS Mc Henry quadrangle1:62500
- 1926 USGS McHenry quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1944 USGS McHenry quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1963 USGS Richmond quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Elgin quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Richmond quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
9 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Wonder Lake between 2013 and 2018, burning about 45 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 August 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-345 |
| 13 May 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-197 |
| 7 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-176 |
| 5 April 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-129 |
| 5 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-128 |
| 13 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-198 |
| 11 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-192 |
| 22 October 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-0364 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Wonder Lake: 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed Copper Deposit | Copper | Past Producer | ||
| West Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
13 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wonder Lake in 13 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 10 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | $15,000 | A large limb was dislogded from a tree and broke through the siding of a house going into the master bedroom. No one was injured. |
| June 2011 | Lightning | Wonder Lake | $10,000 | Lightning struck a house in the 5300 block of East Wonder Lake Road and started a fire in the attic. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | A large tree was down and blocking IL-120 between Wonder Lake Dr and Thompson Rd. Seven power poles were also downed in the same area. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | A private weather station measured a wind gust to 58 mph. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | Power lines were blown down. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | Numerous trees were blown down. One tree had most of its limbs removed. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | Several trees were blown down in Wonder Lake. |
| September 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | A small tree about six inches in diameter was snapped. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | Numerous large tree limbs were blown down with damage to siding reported. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | A six to seven inch diameter tree limb was blown down onto a street. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Wonder Lake | - | Quarter to golf ball size hail was reported in Wonder Lake. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Wonder Lake | - | Hail estimated to 1.5 inches was reported near Route 120 and Ridge Road. |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wonder Lake | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wonder Center | 0.3 miles | 17 | |
| Sunrise Ridge | 1.1 miles | 17 | |
| Greenwood | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Barnard Mill (historical) | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Ringwood | 2.7 miles | 17 | |
| McCullom Lake | 3.1 miles | 17 | |
| Bull Valley | 4.5 miles | 17 | |
| Solon Mills | 5.5 miles | 17 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Wonder Lake | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2672350 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 424171. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









