URBANA, Ill. (RFD-TV) — Illinois has recorded more than 100 tornadoes this year despite not traditionally being considered part of Tornado Alley.
Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford said tornado activity began in February and continued to increase in March.
“March, we also had multiple tornado outbreaks. There was one along the I-70 corridor from roughly kind of the St. Louis Metro East area up to the Effingham area. We also had those really intense storms that moved across from LaSalle to Kankakee. I mentioned the hail that was dropped from some of those storms. So we had about 30 tornadoes or so in March, which is way above where we normally see. Normally we’re at a fraction of that from March.”
Tornado activity continued through the summer, with Ford saying July and August also brought more tornadoes to Illinois than in recent years.
