Tornadoes · United States · Illinois

2015 tornadoes in Illinois

68 tornadoes touched down in Illinois in 2015, 66 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 27. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2014 2016 The whole country in 2015

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 2015

April 9 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 9	1:32 PM CDT	EF0	Peoria	0.1	10
April 9	6:02 PM CDT	EF1	Carroll	8.3	50
April 9	6:37 PM CDT	EF0	Boone	2.8	25
April 9	6:39 PM CDT	EF4	Rochelle–Fairdale tornado	30.1	700	2	11	$19 million
April 9	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Ogle	1.9	100
April 9	7:15 PM CDT	EF1	Boone	4.0	100			$80,000
April 9	7:24 PM CDT	EF0	Boone	0.4	30			$20,000
April 9	7:25 PM CDT	EF1	Boone	3.9	50			$150,000
April 9	7:47 PM CDT	EF0	Christian	0.1	10
April 9	7:50 PM CDT	EF1	McHenry	0.3	30

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	6:50 PM CDT	EF2	Mercer	6.8	50			$30,000

May 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 26	9:59 AM CDT	EF1	Henry	4.0	50	$10,000
May 26	10:46 AM CDT	EF1	Bureau	2.4	50	$15,000
May 26	1:08 PM CDT	EF0	Cook	0.4	50	$10,000

May 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 29	11:20 PM CDT	EF1	Greene	4.7	200

June 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 7	8:22 PM CDT	EF0	Menard	0.0	10			$15,000
June 7	9:03 PM CDT	EF0	Piatt	2.7	25			$85,000

June 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	5:25 PM CDT	EF1	Mercer	5.9	50

June 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	7:32 PM CDT	EF1	Will	4.1	150			$100,000

June 19 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 19	12:30 PM CDT	EF1	Marion	1.7	50
June 19	2:26 PM CDT	EF0	Lawrence	0.1	25	$25,000
June 19	3:13 PM CDT	EF0	White	4.9	200	$5,000
June 19	3:57 PM CDT	EF1	Johnson	0.4	50	$5,000
June 19	4:45 PM CDT	EF0	Richland	0.1	30	$10,000
June 19	4:50 PM CDT	EF0	Richland	0.5	50	$20,000
June 19	4:51 PM CDT	EF1	Franklin	0.9	150	$500,000
June 19	4:53 PM CDT	EF1	Jackson	0.2	75	$25,000
June 19	5:30 PM CDT	EF0	Hamilton	0.5	50	$2,000
June 19	6:01 PM CDT	EF0	Perry	0.1	30

June 22 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 22	7:14 PM CDT	EF1	Whiteside	2.2	75
June 22	7:15 PM CDT	EF2	Rock Island	4.2	440
June 22	7:16 PM CDT	EF0	Whiteside	2.6	50
June 22	7:16 PM CDT	EF1	Whiteside	1.7	50
June 22	7:28 PM CDT	EF1	Lee	7.4	50
June 22	7:53 PM CDT	EF2	Lee	7.8	880	7	$1.0 million
June 22	8:19 PM CDT	EF1	LaSalle	1.5	150		$100,000
June 22	8:50 PM CDT	EF1	LaSalle	6.0	150		$100,000
June 22	9:17 PM CDT	EF1	Grundy	7.0	150		$50,000
June 22	9:43 PM CDT	EF1	Grundy	0.8	100		$50,000
June 22	9:45 PM CDT	EF3	Grundy	16.3	1,320	7	$25 million
June 22	10:08 PM CDT	EF1	Kankakee	2.2	300
June 22	11:46 PM CDT	EF0	Kankakee	1.0	50

July 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 11	9:25 PM CDT	EF0	Macon	0.1	50			$15,000

July 16 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
July 16	6:09 PM CDT	EF1	Henderson	0.8	100		$25,000
July 16	6:49 PM CDT	EF1	Warren	1.4	50		$2,000
July 16	7:00 PM CDT	EF1	Rock Island	1.1	200		$2,000
July 16	7:09 PM CDT	EF2	Warren	1.7	300		$150,000
July 16	7:13 PM CDT	EF2	Warren	6.0	700	1	$1.5 million
July 16	8:48 PM CDT	EF0	Whiteside	0.6	10
July 16	11:39 PM CDT	EF2	Tazewell	2.4	250	1	$1.2 million

July 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 18	2:19 PM CDT	EF0	McHenry	0.1	50
July 18	2:38 PM CDT	EF0	McHenry	0.1	50

August 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 2	8:38 PM CDT	EF1	Lake	7.5	300			$1.0 million

August 18 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 18	4:32 PM CDT	EF0	Livingston	0.0	25
August 18	5:05 PM CDT	EF0	Livingston	0.0	25
August 18	6:09 PM CDT	EF0	Tazewell	2.0	75	$30,000
August 18	7:55 PM CDT	EF0	DuPage	3.2	75
August 18	8:06 PM CDT	EF0	DuPage	0.2	75	$50,000

September 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 10	4:45 PM CDT	EF0	Mason	0.2	75			$20,000

September 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 18	4:44 PM CDT	EF1	Will	2.6	50			$70,000

November 11 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 11	6:37 PM CST	EF0	Rock Island	0.1	25
November 11	6:39 PM CST	EF1	Henry	4.2	50

December 23 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
December 23	11:15 AM CST	EF0	Jackson	6.0	50	$5,000
December 23	11:23 AM CST	EF1	Perry	5.0	200	$175,000
December 23	12:30 PM CST	EF1	Edwards	4.3	100	$13,000
December 23	12:32 PM CST	EF1	White	1.6	100	$75,000
December 23	4:15 PM CST	EF1	McDonough	10.7	50
December 23	4:33 PM CST	EF0	Mercer	10.6	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
April 9	5:40 PM CDT	EF1	Clinton, IA to IL	12.5	75
July 8	8:35 PM CDT	EF1	Scott, MO to IL	6.3	125			$66,000

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.