Tornado smashes Illinois neighborhood

One U.S. state has been ravaged by tornadoes far more than any other state so far in 2026, and it's not in the South.

It's the Land of Lincoln

Through Sunday, June 14, there have been a combined 145 reports of and confirmed tornadoes this year in Illinois, according to preliminary data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.

That's over 60 more than any other state through the first five and a half months of 2026.

It's almost triple the number in the notoriously tornadic states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

These preliminary totals are combination of both tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service and other reports of tornadoes that may or may not be confirmed later once the data is finalized in several months.

It started in winter

On Feb. 19, eight weak tornadoes were confirmed in southern Illinois, including a damaging EF1 near the town of Flat Rock.

Then, twin outbreaks on March 10 and March 15 spawned three dozen confirmed tornadoes in the state, including one supercell that spawned 12 separate tornadoes, one of which heavily damaged parts of the city of Kankakee.

The April 17 outbreak hammered Illinois with over 40 confirmed tornadoes. There were six other April days with at least one reported tornado in the state.

Following a quieter May with only one tornado, June picked up right where April left off, with tornadoes on back-to-back days June 10-11. That included EF3 tornadoes in Streator and near Washburn, Illinois.

Why so many?

According to the Illinois State Climatology Office, the state averages around 54 tornadoes a year.

This spring and early summer, a persistent pattern was in place featuring a sharp southward plunge of the jet stream swinging into the Midwest tapping warm and humid air. This is the classic signature for outbreaks of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

This warm, humid air was unusually persistent in the Midwest. It was the record warmest April and third warmest spring in Illinois dating to 1895, according to NOAA.

These states were weirdly lacking

Meanwhile, typically active states in the South have had more pedestrian preliminary tornado stats, so far.

As you can see in the graph near the top of this article, Mississippi has held its own, in second place with 82 preliminary reports and confirmed tornadoes.

But tallies from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, while not egregiously below average, look much more pedestrian.

One state notorious for tornadoes, Alabama, just missed the top 10, with only 35, largely due to a weird April shutout statewide, typically its most active month.

Illinois isn't the only Midwest oddity

One other state made a strange appearance in the top 10 bar graph above.

Wisconsin has tallied 40 confirmed tornadoes and tornado reports so far.

That's almost double the Badger State's average for an entire year (23) and one more than its confirmed tally last year.

It was largely paced by 27 April tornadoes, the most on record for any April in the state, including a pair rated EF3.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.