BlockBefore

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.

Wonder Lake within McHenry County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

9 since 2013

Regional 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/undetermined5
Debris and open burning4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-345
13 May 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-197
7 April 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-176
5 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-129
5 April 2013Debris and open burning4.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-128
13 April 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-198
11 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-192
22 October 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-0364

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in McHenry County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Unnamed Copper DepositCopperPast Producer
West PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in McHenry County

Storms near this place

13 since 1996

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2011Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake$15,000A 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 2011LightningWonder Lake$10,000Lightning struck a house in the 5300 block of East Wonder Lake Road and started a fire in the attic.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWonder 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 2025Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-A private weather station measured a wind gust to 58 mph.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-Power lines were blown down.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-Numerous trees were blown down. One tree had most of its limbs removed.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-Several trees were blown down in Wonder Lake.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-A small tree about six inches in diameter was snapped.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-Numerous large tree limbs were blown down with damage to siding reported.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-A six to seven inch diameter tree limb was blown down onto a street.
July 2017HailWonder Lake-Quarter to golf ball size hail was reported in Wonder Lake.
April 2014HailWonder Lake-Hail estimated to 1.5 inches was reported near Route 120 and Ridge Road.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindWonder Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McHenry County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Wonder Center0.3 miles17
Sunrise Ridge1.1 miles17
Greenwood2.3 miles17
Barnard Mill (historical)2.3 miles17
Ringwood2.7 miles17
McCullom Lake3.1 miles17
Bull Valley4.5 miles17
Solon Mills5.5 miles17

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 LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2672350The 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.