The Tornado State: Illinois emerges as new hot spot for twisters, defying traditional patterns

CHICAGO - The Prairie State could soon be known as the tornado state. So far this year, Illinois has seen the most tornadoes in the United States, and the most severe weather events.

In a FOX 32 special report, chief meteorologist Emily Wahls explains what’s going on.

There's a new trend storm chasers are following. It shows tornado alley isn’t the only hot spot for this major weather event.

"One of the things that we’re noticing is that there’s been a decreasing trend, a decreasing number of tornados in the Great Plains and an increase in places further to the east, and the mid-south and portions of the Midwest," said Dr. Victor Gensini, associate professor of meteorology at Northern Illinois University.

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Gensini is also a storm chaser and one of the first meteorologists to report a shift in the frequency of where tornadoes are touching down in the U.S.

He and a team of other weather experts first noticed this trend in 2018. Five years later, they say it’s still swirling.

"So it’s a very interesting trend and then the issue becomes how to explain that trend," Gensini said.

"We don’t know. We think some of it’s climate change. We think some it is the central plains drying out, becoming a more desert like, arid climate. And places further to the west see more rainfall."

The shift Gensini helped discover focuses on the number of EF-2 and stronger tornadoes now occurring outside the traditional tornado alley. Places like northern Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

"So when a tornado happens in these areas east of the Mississippi River, we see more impact. More hazards, right? Because there’s more people, there’s more targets, there’s more assets for these storms to hit," he said.

The tornado that tore through suburban Chicago in June 2021 was an EF-3. It left a heavy trail of destruction in Woodridge and Naperville.

"The devastation here is unbelievable. It’s one of those things you don’t expect it in your neighborhood," one Woodridge resident said at the time. 

For Illinois, Gensini says it's seeing an increase of about three more strong tornadoes every decade.

"Tornados are relatively rare. It’s very rare to be hit by a tornado in downtown Chicago, but when you start aggregating over a decade, an increase in two or three or four in a decade is a pretty big increase," Gensini said. 

What is really noticeable in Illinois, especially this year, is more EF-0 and EF-1 tornadoes.

"They can still cause loss of life and property. In fact, there’s several documented cases of EF-0 and 1’s causing causalities," Gensini said. 

A March 31 storm brought 16 low-level tornadoes across northern Illinois. All but one were EF-1's or EF-0's.

Four people died and dozens were injured. That includes at least 40 concert goers who were at the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere when an EF-1 caused the roof to collapse.

"They acted quickly to remove debris from people, because people were trapped under debris," said Dan Zaccard, Boone County emergency management director.

So far this year, Illinois has seen at least 100 tornadoes on all levels of the Enhanced Fujita Scale. That’s nearly double the number the state typically sees, according to the National Weather Service.

While the number of tornadoes we see each year is expected to keep increasing, Gensini says climate change will only be partly to blame.

"There’s more assets for these storms to hit. So as we go forward over the next 50 to 100 years, we will see, regardless of climate change, more and more tornado disasters because of this increase in the human footprint, in the human-built environment," he said.

Case in point, Gensini and his fellow researchers estimate if a tornado today took the same track as one did in 1990 through Plainfield, the damage would be ten times worse.

So if there are more existing homes and more low-level tornadoes happening, what can you do to make your house tornado resistant?

"One of the biggest things people can do right off the bat is look at their garage door," said University of Illinois climate specialist Duane Friend. "The garage is one of the most susceptible areas on a house."

Friend says garage doors can be the first point to give way on a house during a tornado because heavy winds can access it pretty easily.

That’s why he says having a garage door that is insulated is a good idea. That type of door is heavier and less likely to give way to strong winds. Friend also says there are "hurricane proof" garage doors.

"The roof would be the second thing that can go, and what will happen with the garage, as the garage fills up with air and that pressure increases, that’s when the roof on the garage goes off," Friend said.

"The good news is roofs have to be replaced on a regular basis. Anyway, the typical design life of a roof is maybe 15 to 25 years," said Marc Levitan, lead researcher with the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program.

Levitan says when it’s time to replace your roof, you should ask your contractor about taking these steps.

"So we’re going to do two things. We’re going to put ring shank nails to hold the roof deck down better and we’re going to put "peel and seal" tape on all of the joints," he said.

Levitan says that tape will help keep water from damaging your roof.

If possible, Levitan also suggests having your contractor use hurricane clips to reinforce the connection between the rafters and the top of the wall.

Despite all that, Gensini says the most important tornado safety step you can take is this.

"I think it’s really prepping yourself before prepping your home that really is the most important. Have a way to receive watches and warnings and have a plan of action. You can’t wait for the house to be falling down around you before you take action. You need to know what to do when these situations occur," Gensini said.

While we tend to focus a lot on tornadoes happening, especially during severe weather season – April to June -- the reality is a tornado can happen anywhere in the U.S., and it can happen at any time of the year.

For more information on how to make your house tornado resistant, visit the University of Illinois' Windstorm Mitigation Manual.