Illinois tornado and storm history
Tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, and severe storms recorded in Illinois between 1950 and 2026, from NOAA's Storm Events Database. Search an address to see the storms that came closest to it.
3,647
Tornado reports
66,756
Storm events
1,174
Deaths, all storms
Every tornado track in Illinois
3,615 county track segments since 1950, coloured by rating. Zoom in and each path widens to its surveyed width. Tap one for the storm.
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated
Tornadoes by decade in Illinois
All tornado reports against only the strong ones (F2 and above). Averages are per year over the years the federal record covers completely — 1952, 1976 and 1993 are each missing whole months in NOAA’s own files and are left out.
| Decade | All reports | Strong (F2+) | All per year | Strong per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 203 | 117 | 23 | 13 |
| 1960s | 232 | 114 | 23 | 11 |
| 1970s | 355 | 107 | 39 | 12 |
| 1980s | 249 | 55 | 25 | 6 |
| 1990s | 486 | 82 | 54 | 9 |
| 2000s | 647 | 68 | 65 | 7 |
| 2010s | 604 | 104 | 60 | 10 |
The 2020s are left out because the decade is not finished. Reports are counted per county, so one tornado crossing a county line can appear more than once.
Significant recent events in Illinois
Events with deaths, several injuries, $1M+ property damage, or tornadoes rated EF3 and up.
Originating in Beecher City within Effingham County, the tornado first touched down along E State Highway 33 at 7:56PM CDT. The storm's initial path spanned approximately one-quarter mile in width, resulting in EF0 and EF1 level damage. This impact was characterized by the snappi…
Tornado EF3 Tornado
A tornado touched down near the intersection of Banta Road and IL-26 east of the Illinois River at 4:56pm CDT. The tornado tracked northeastward, damaging trees before reaching Columbia Road where several houses lost roofs and extensive tree damage occurred. It then crossed into …
Tornado EF3 Tornado
This tornado crossed from Woodford County into Marshall County just west of Snag Creek Road at 5:02pm CDT. It strengthened to peak intensity with maximum estimated winds of 155mph across rural Marshall County northwest of Washburn. A log house had all of its walls collapsed and a…
Tornado EF3 Tornado
A tornado with estimated peak winds of 145 mph touched down in a field southwest of the intersection of E 2600 North Road and N 190 East Road. The tornado moved north through Long Point where it caused tree damage. Sporadic tree damage continued near Ancona and in Reading Townshi…
A tornado which touched down near Long Point in Livingston County, moved northeast and crossed into LaSalle County just east of Prairie Grove Road and was likely at peak intensity as it crossed into LaSalle County as well as at its maximum width of 600 yards. The tornado heavily …
A tornado with estimated peak winds of 120 mph touched down in the Spears-Pioneer Woods Forest Preserve just north of 95th Street damaging trees. The tornado moved northeast causing damage to trees, utility poles and minor roof damage across northern Hickory Hills. The tornado cr…
A 32 year old man was found unresponsive in Lake Michigan near Diversey Harbor and was taken to a local hospital in crticial condition and later died. It was unclear whether tha man was swimming or boating.
A destructive EF-3 tornado with peak winds of 160 mph impacted portions of central and eastern Kankakee County before moving into northwest Indiana. The most notable damage caused by this tornado in Kankakee County occurred in the Aroma Park area. This tornado began just north of…
Weather observers measured 5 to 6 inches of snow across Sangamon County...including 5.5 inches 4 miles west-southwest of Berry and 5.0 inches in Sherman. Due to snow-covered and slick roadways, numerous traffic accidents occurred. A multi-vehicle collision on I-55 near the Clear …
Weather observers measured 3 to 5 inches of snow across Coles County...including 4.4 inches in Charleston. Due to snow-covered and slick roadways, numerous traffic accidents occurred. A multi-vehicle crash on southbound I-57 near mile marker 193 resulted in one death and one inju…
A fresh snowfall of 1 to 3 inches led to snow-covered and hazardous roadways across Knox County during the afternoon and evening of December 2nd. A man was killed when his vehicle collided with a semi truck on US Route 34 between Oneida and Wataga.
At around 6 AM CDT, deputies were called to the seen of an overturned vehicle with an individual thrown from it at the intersection of Fountain and Levee Roads. The person was pronounced dead at the scene. The official investigation determined that extreme fog was the cause of th…
Extensive flash flooding was reported around southern Cook County. Numerous reports of street and basement flooding came out of Orland Hills, Midlothian, Homer Glen, and Tinley Park. At least one foot of water was reported along 183rd and 179th streets near LaGrange Rd. In Orland…
Counties and zones
Each county’s full storm history, with its event count. Some entries are National Weather Service forecast zones rather than civil counties.
Adams (641)
Alexander (929)
Bond (333)
Boone (419)
Brown (261)
Bureau (692)
Calhoun (270)
Carroll (608)
Cass (319)
Cenrtral Cook County (5)
Central Cook County (91)
Champaign (1,042)
Christian (550)
Clark (302)
Clay (447)
Clinton (470)
Coles (542)
Cook (3,124)
Crawford (362)
Cumberland (255)
De Kalb (654)
De Witt (393)
Douglas (373)
Du Page (1,203)
Eastern Will County (55)
Edgar (389)
Edwards (625)
Effingham (466)
Fayette (383)
Ford (379)
Ford and Iroquois (1)
Franklin (962)
Fulton (758)
Gallatin (774)
Greene (307)
Grundy (495)
Hamilton (662)
Hancock (709)
Hancock, Henderson and Warren (1)
Hardin (565)
Henderson (410)
Henry (905)
Iroquois (564)
Jackson (1,198)
Jasper (301)
Jefferson (827)
Jersey (388)
Jo Daviess (686)
Johnson (719)
Kane (1,147)
Kankakee (698)
Kendall (507)
Knox (521)
La Salle (935)
Lake (869)
Lawrence (357)
Lee (539)
Livingston (563)
Logan (684)
Macon (716)
Macoupin (649)
Madison (1,009)
Marion (497)
Marshall (397)
Mason (384)
Massac (805)
Mcdonough (786)
Mchenry (854)
Mclean (943)
Menard (367)
Mercer (538)
Monroe (451)
Montgomery (533)
Morgan (476)
Moultrie (292)
Northern Cook County (76)
Northern Will County (54)
Ogle (602)
Peoria (875)
Perry (791)
Piatt (350)
Pike (443)
Pope (660)
Pulaski (768)
Putnam (373)
Randolph (539)
Richland (275)
Rock Island (871)
Rock Island and Whiteside (1)
Saline (816)
Sangamon (1,107)
Schuyler (326)
Scott (256)
Shelby (411)
Southern Cook County (51)
Southern Will County (52)
St. Clair (1,047)
Stark (286)
Stephenson (756)
Tazewell (913)
Union (774)
Vermilion (830)
Wabash (776)
Warren (487)
Washington (441)
Wayne (788)
White (950)
Whiteside (794)
Will (1,418)
Williamson (892)
Winnebago (888)
Woodford (588)
Search your address
See every tornado that passed within 25 miles of a place in Illinois, measured to its path.
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