Forest Lake, Illinois Weather
Forest Lake, Illinois — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery for Forest Lake, Lake County.
Full aviation weather for Forest Lake is published on the Campbell Airport (KC81) page, 13 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 6 airfields within reach of Forest Lake have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Forest Lake: Lake in the Hills Airport (K3CK) 22 km · Galt Field (K10C) 34 km · Camp Lake Airport (K49C) 37 km · Dacy Airport (K0C0) 52 km · Grand Geneva Resort Airport (KC02) 53 km
Conditions reported at KC81 describe the airfield itself. Weather 13 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Forest Lake specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
About Forest Lake, Illinois
Forest Lake lies under a wide, often dramatic Illinois sky, a place where the land gently rolls, giving way to pockets of dense woodland and the shimmering, expansive surface of the lake itself. It lies 4.0 miles west-south-west of Vernon Hills, IL (from Vernon Hills, IL: bearing 258°T), and is situated 9.1 miles north-north-west of Arlington Heights. The air here, particularly on summer evenings, carries the damp, earthy scent of rich soil and the subtle, sweet perfume of wild flora, a fragrance that seems to cling to the rough bark of oak and the smooth, cool surfaces of the water. Sunlight filters through the mature trees, dappling the forest floor in shifting patterns, and the quiet lapping of waves against the shore provides a constant, soothing soundtrack to the landscape. The terrain, a mosaic of open fields and shaded groves, feels both familiar and enduring, a landscape that has witnessed seasons turn and generations pass. The history of Forest Lake is deeply entwined with the agricultural heart of Lake County, its fertile ground once yielding bountiful harvests that sustained early settlers and shaped the local economy. While the echoes of farming persist in the open vistas and the sturdy, weathered barns that dot the countryside, Forest Lake has also grown into a place where recreation and residential life take precedence. The lake itself, the namesake of Forest Lake, is the undeniable focal point, drawing families and individuals alike for boating, fishing, and the simple pleasure of lakeside living. This blend of past and present, of agrarian roots and contemporary pursuits, gives Forest Lake a distinctive character, a quiet resilience evident in its unpretentious charm and the steady hum of everyday life.
Live animated radar for Forest Lake and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Forest Lake, Lake County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 42.207524°N, 88.055632°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 60047 |
| Area Code | 312, 773 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Forest Lake, Illinois Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Forest Lake, Illinois, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Forest Lake includes coordinates 42.207524°N, 88.055632°W, situated in Lake County. ZIP code 60047. Telephone area code: 312, 773. Timezone: Central Time (America/Chicago).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
