Illinois has history of devastating tornadoes

By Tom Emery

March is Severe Weather Preparedness Month and in Illinois, that takes on added importance. The state has more than its share of twisters.

The National Weather Service and the Illinois State Climatologist’s Office report that the Land of Lincoln ranked sixth in the annual average of tornadoes from 1991-2017, with 54 per year. That figure trailed only Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Florida.

The number of Illinois tornadoes has actually increased over the last three decades. From 1980-89, the state endured an average of 22.4 twisters a year – less than half the number of today.

Fortunately, the number of tornado-related injuries is decreasing, largely due to advanced warning both from meteorologists and municipal emergency systems, like sirens. In both 2014 and 2017, only two Illinois residents were hurt in tornado events. Between 1980-2013, there had been only twelve years when statewide tornado injuries did not hit double digits.

The record number of tornadoes in a single year in Illinois was set in 2006, when 124 twisters ripped across the state. That snapped the record of 120, set in 2003. Some years, however, have far less, including 1919 and 1933, when no tornadoes were recorded in the state.

The majority of Illinois tornadoes, as elsewhere, occur between March and May. Over half of the state’s twisters hit between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Still, severe tornadoes can strike at any time of the year. Two of the most recent high-profile tornadoes in Illinois were in off-peak times, including the “Leap Day” twister that hammered parts of Harrisburg on Feb. 29, 2012. The following year, a series of tornadoes on November 17 caused major damage in various communities statewide, particularly in Washington, Ill.

The deadliest tornado to hit Illinois in the last thirty years was also in the off-peak months, the massive F5 twister that ravaged the areas around Plainfield, Ill. on Aug. 28, 1990. Twenty-nine people were killed. The statewide injury total of 365 that year was the highest in the last four decades, and one of only four times that the number of tornado-related injuries in Illinois hit triple digits in a single year.

An Illinois tornado holds the record for the highest death toll in a single American state. That was the infamous Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925, which tore across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana. Though researchers today debate if the phenomenon was a single funnel or a series of tornadoes, the massive destruction is undisputed.

In today’s dollars, the Tri-State tornado left $1.4 billion in damage and devastated the towns of Murphysboro, DeSoto, and Gorham. Of the 695 total deaths, 613 were in Illinois.

Ranking second on the Illinois list is a tornado that is more commonly associated with St. Louis – the so-called “Cyclone” that struck the heart of the city on May 27, 1896, killing 137. Overlooked, however, is how the tornado crossed the Mississippi and killed 118 people in East St. Louis.

Some 27 were killed in separate tornadoes elsewhere in southern Illinois, raising the death toll to 145. Taken collectively, the casualty total from both sides of the river is the third-worst in American history.

In third place is the outbreak of May 26, 1917 that opened near Louisiana, Mo. and headed for Pike County, Ill., continuing across the state in nearly a straight west-east line.

The series eventually killed 101 people, including 91 in Mattoon and Charleston, where a combined 717 homes were destroyed. Some 2,500 people in Mattoon were left homeless.

While found worldwide, tornadoes tend to be more of an American phenomenon. Of the 100,000 thunderstorms detected across the United States each year, some 1,000 tornadoes develop. That total is far more than the second-highest country, Canada, with around 100 each year.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or [email protected].