Tornadoes · United States · Illinois

2008 tornadoes in Illinois

48 tornadoes touched down in Illinois in 2008, 17 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mph
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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
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.

Every tornado in Illinois in 2008

January 7 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
January 7	3:30 PM CST	EF3	Boone	13.1	100	5	$4.0 million
January 7	5:22 PM CST	EF1	Tazewell	3.0	100		$30,000
January 7	8:40 PM CST	EF0	Pike	2.4	40

February 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 5	6:12 PM CST	EF0	Marion	0.1	40
February 5	6:12 PM CST	EF0	Marion	0.2	30

March 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 31	4:45 PM CDT	EF0	Monroe	1.8	30

April 10 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 10	5:55 PM CDT	EF0	Adams	9.1	50
April 10	6:30 PM CDT	EF1	Hancock	1.6	150	$100,000
April 10	6:33 PM CDT	EF0	Hancock	0.2	50	$20,000
April 10	6:35 PM CDT	EF0	Hancock	0.8	75	$30,000

May 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	6:35 PM CDT	EF0	Jackson	0.2	20

May 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 27	12:40 PM CDT	EF0	Richland	0.1	10

May 30 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 30	4:25 PM CDT	EF1	Pike	1.4	50	$5,000
May 30	6:15 PM CDT	EF0	Pike	3.9	40
May 30	7:17 PM CDT	EF1	Morgan	4.8	100	$192,000
May 30	8:20 PM CDT	EF0	Christian	0.0	10
May 30	8:33 PM CDT	EF0	Shelby	1.1	30

June 3 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 3	7:54 AM CDT	EF0	Marion	0.1	50
June 3	8:32 PM CDT	EF0	Scott	6.7	75

June 4 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 4	3:30 AM CDT	EF0	Randolph	0.6	50
June 4	3:48 AM CDT	EF0	Randolph	1.5	50
June 4	3:49 AM CDT	EF0	Randolph	0.7	25
June 4	7:45 PM CDT	EF1	Livingston	3.4	200	$40,000
June 4	8:18 PM CDT	EF0	Tazewell	1.5	30
June 4	8:24 PM CDT	EF0	Tazewell	6.1	150

June 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 6	4:20 PM CDT	EF1	Coles	5.0	200			$275,000

June 7 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 7	4:21 PM CDT	EF0	Livingston	0.9	20
June 7	4:31 PM CDT	EF1	Livingston	3.6	40		$50,000
June 7	5:18 PM CDT	EF2	Kankakee	14.5	200		$500,000
June 7	5:51 PM CDT	EF2	Will	2.2	400		$50,000
June 7	5:55 PM CDT	EF2	Will	3.7	150		$500,000
June 7	6:13 PM CDT	EF2	Will	6.5	150	6	$9.5 million
June 7	6:32 PM CDT	EF1	Cook	2.0	75		$1.0 million
June 7	6:48 PM CDT	EF0	Cook	0.4	50		$10,000

June 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	7:26 PM CDT	EF0	Rock Island	0.0	25
June 12	12:30 AM CDT	EF1	Boone	6.2	150			$25,000

June 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	4:08 PM CDT	EF0	McLean	0.8	20			$50,000

June 27 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 27	3:58 PM CDT	EF0	Fayette	1.5	40
June 27	5:59 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson	0.2	30			$5,000

July 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	6:45 PM CDT	EF0	Edgar	4.0	50			$60,000

July 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 21	10:34 PM CDT	EF1	Edgar	2.0	100			$85,000

August 4 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 4	7:45 PM CDT	EF1	DuPage	0.6	40	$40,000
August 4	7:45 PM CDT	EF1	Will	1.1	50	$500,000
August 4	7:47 PM CDT	EF1	DuPage	0.8	50	$250,000
August 4	7:59 PM CDT	EF0	Cook	0.3	30	$30,000

December 27 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
December 27	10:30 AM CST	EF1	Adams	0.9	50
December 27	10:33 AM CST	EF0	Adams	0.7	30
December 27	11:20 AM CST	EF0	McDonough	0.3	50

Crossed into Illinois

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Illinois. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 29	4:09 PM CST	EF1	Cape Girardeau, MO to IL	4.3	200			$85,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Illinois since 1950 Warnings in force in Illinois The 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.