Tornadoes in Illinois
3,108 tornadoes since 1950, an average of 40.9 a year, 6th of the 53 states and territories in the record. They have killed 232 people and injured 4,655. 32 were rated F4 or EF4 and above, 2 of them F5 or EF5.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The deadliest in Illinois
- F4 Oak Lawn tornado, IllinoisApril 21, 1967
- F5 Plainfield tornado, IllinoisAugust 28, 1990
- F4 Belvidere tornado, IllinoisApril 21, 1967
- F4, Jackson, Williamson and Franklin counties, IllinoisDecember 18, 1957
- F4, Williamson County, IllinoisMay 29, 1982
- EF4 Harrisburg–Ridgway tornado, IllinoisFebruary 29, 2012
- F3, Putnam and LaSalle counties, IllinoisApril 20, 2004
- EF3 Robinson tornado, Illinois and IndianaMarch 31, 2023
- EF3 Edwardsville tornado, IllinoisDecember 10, 2021
- F3, Shelby and Cumberland counties, IllinoisAugust 21, 1977
- F4 Crystal Lake tornado, IllinoisApril 11, 1965
- F3, Saint Clair County, IllinoisMay 15, 1968
The strongest
- F5 Plainfield tornado, IllinoisAugust 28, 1990
- F5 Sunfield tornado, IllinoisDecember 18, 1957
- F4, Hamilton, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, Gibson, Knox, Pike and Daviess counties, Illinois and IndianaJune 2, 1990
- F4, Macon, Piatt, Champaign and Vermilion counties, IllinoisMarch 20, 1976
- F4, Kankakee, Newton, Jasper and Pulaski counties, Illinois and IndianaApril 17, 1963
- F4, Hancock, Henderson and Warren counties, IllinoisMay 13, 1995
- EF4 Washington–Roanoke tornado, IllinoisNovember 17, 2013
- F4 New Grand Chain–Golconda tornado, IllinoisMay 6, 2003
- EF4 Rochelle–Fairdale tornado, IllinoisApril 9, 2015
- F4, Jackson, Williamson and Franklin counties, IllinoisDecember 18, 1957
- EF4 Harrisburg–Ridgway tornado, IllinoisFebruary 29, 2012
- F4 Belvidere tornado, IllinoisApril 21, 1967
The longest paths
- F3, Champaign, Vermilion, Warren, Fountain, Tippecanoe and Clinton counties, Illinois and IndianaApril 9, 1953
- F1, Adams, Hancock, McDonough and Warren counties, IllinoisJuly 21, 1961
- F3, Adams, Pike, Schuyler and McDonough counties, IllinoisMay 14, 1961
- F1, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery and Shelby counties, IllinoisMarch 6, 1961
- F4, Hamilton, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, Gibson, Knox, Pike and Daviess counties, Illinois and IndianaJune 2, 1990
- F1, Alexander and Massac counties, IllinoisJanuary 18, 1973
- F3, Marshall, Putnam, Grundy and Will counties, IllinoisJuly 17, 1972
- F2, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone and McHenry counties, IllinoisOctober 8, 1958
- F1, Randolph, Saint Clair, Washington and Clinton counties, IllinoisMay 3, 1958
- F2, Lee, DeKalb, Kendall and Will counties, IllinoisAugust 15, 1958
- F2, Adams, Hancock, McDonough and Warren counties, IllinoisMay 10, 2003
- F2, Calhoun, Greene, Pike and Scott counties, IllinoisMarch 12, 2006
The costliest
- EF4 Washington–Roanoke tornado, IllinoisNovember 17, 2013
- EF3, Christian County, IllinoisDecember 1, 2018
- EF2, Peoria County, IllinoisJune 5, 2010
- EF3, Champaign, Vermilion and Iroquois counties, IllinoisNovember 17, 2013
- EF2, Tazewell and Peoria counties, IllinoisNovember 17, 2013
- EF3, Grundy and Will counties, IllinoisJune 22, 2015
- EF4 Marion tornado, IllinoisMay 16, 2025
- F1, Henry County, IllinoisApril 19, 1996
- EF4 Rochelle–Fairdale tornado, IllinoisApril 9, 2015
- EF3, Sangamon and Logan counties, IllinoisAugust 19, 2009
- EF3 Robinson tornado, Illinois and IndianaMarch 31, 2023
- F4 New Grand Chain–Golconda tornado, IllinoisMay 6, 2003
The biggest days in Illinois
Every year
Every year of the published record, and above it the 211 tornado tracks surveyed in Illinois so far in 2026. This year's figures are preliminary and are not in the totals above, which are SPC's published database.
| Year | Tornadoes | Deaths | Injuries | F4 and above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 preliminary | 211 | 5 | 56 | |
| 2025 | 121 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 139 | 10 | ||
| 2023 | 118 | 7 | 64 | |
| 2022 | 35 | |||
| 2021 | 73 | 6 | 13 | |
| 2020 | 63 | 2 | ||
| 2019 | 48 | 1 | ||
| 2018 | 55 | 22 | ||
| 2017 | 49 | 3 | 18 | |
| 2016 | 45 | 16 | ||
| 2015 | 68 | 2 | 27 | 1 |
| 2014 | 53 | 2 | ||
| 2013 | 52 | 5 | 156 | 2 |
| 2012 | 33 | 9 | 117 | 1 |
| 2011 | 72 | 8 | ||
| 2010 | 52 | 1 | 40 | |
| 2009 | 52 | 27 | ||
| 2008 | 48 | 11 | ||
| 2007 | 22 | 3 | ||
| 2006 | 119 | 1 | 46 | |
| 2005 | 21 | |||
| 2004 | 80 | 9 | 23 | 1 |
| 2003 | 119 | 2 | 82 | 1 |
| 2002 | 37 | 4 | 64 | |
| 2001 | 21 | 3 | ||
| 2000 | 55 | 8 | ||
| 1999 | 62 | 3 | 25 | |
| 1998 | 99 | 27 | ||
| 1997 | 32 | 5 | ||
| 1996 | 62 | 1 | 80 | |
| 1995 | 76 | 87 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 20 | 4 | ||
| 1993 | 33 | |||
| 1992 | 23 | 2 | ||
| 1991 | 32 | 23 | ||
| 1990 | 49 | 30 | 381 | 4 |
| 1989 | 15 | 61 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 20 | 6 | ||
| 1987 | 22 | 2 | ||
| 1986 | 22 | 12 | ||
| 1985 | 15 | 1 | 11 | |
| 1984 | 34 | 1 | 20 | |
| 1983 | 13 | 2 | 40 | |
| 1982 | 35 | 13 | 213 | 1 |
| 1981 | 33 | 1 | 48 | 2 |
| 1980 | 14 | 7 | ||
| 1979 | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 13 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1977 | 32 | 6 | 58 | 1 |
| 1976 | 27 | 5 | 133 | 3 |
| 1975 | 46 | 2 | 78 | |
| 1974 | 107 | 2 | 66 | |
| 1973 | 63 | 9 | ||
| 1972 | 30 | 5 | 70 | 1 |
| 1971 | 15 | 1 | 49 | |
| 1970 | 16 | 16 | ||
| 1969 | 10 | 4 | ||
| 1968 | 8 | 8 | 135 | |
| 1967 | 40 | 59 | 1077 | 3 |
| 1966 | 11 | 1 | 50 | |
| 1965 | 28 | 8 | 217 | 1 |
| 1964 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 1963 | 11 | 2 | 142 | 1 |
| 1962 | 13 | 10 | ||
| 1961 | 33 | 2 | 144 | |
| 1960 | 40 | 26 | ||
| 1959 | 36 | 1 | 19 | |
| 1958 | 27 | 2 | 25 | |
| 1957 | 42 | 15 | 330 | 4 |
| 1956 | 27 | 2 | 14 | |
| 1955 | 25 | 10 | ||
| 1954 | 7 | 1 | 19 | |
| 1953 | 4 | 3 | 25 | |
| 1952 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 1951 | 5 | 2 | 58 | |
| 1950 | 8 | 3 | 31 |
Every county in Illinois
A tornado is counted once for every county its path crossed, so these add up to more than 3,108. Each county has a page of its own: every tornado that crossed it, year by year.
Nearby
Warnings in force in IllinoisForecast for your townThe live radar over Illinois
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.