2006: One of Illinois' Most Active Tornado Years

A total of 124 tornadoes occurred across the state of Illinois in 2006, which (at the time) broke the old state record of 120 tornadoes set in 2003. This record has since been surpassed by the 142 tornadoes that occurred in Illinois in the 2024 calendar year. Official NWS tornado records date back to 1950.

The hardest hit areas were in central and southwest Illinois, where 106 tornadoes were reported. The record number of tornadoes resulted in 1 fatality and 49 injuries.

Three significant tornado outbreaks yielded half of the tornadoes in Illinois:

March 12th - 12 tornadoes, including two which produced F2 damage in and near the city of Springfield. Twenty-six injuries were reported from the tornadoes.

April 2nd - 36 tornadoes, which resulted in one fatality in Fairview Heights (St. Clair County) and a total of 16 injuries. This was one of the largest tornado outbreaks to ever occur in the state of Illinois.

April 16th - 14 tornadoes occurred during the afternoon and evening of Easter Sunday in the eastern half of the state. There were no injuries with these tornadoes.

By month, the number of tornadoes in Illinois during 2006 was as follows:

At the time, the 21 tornadoes in March set a new record for the most tornadoes to occur in Illinois in the month of March. This record has since been surpassed by the 37 tornadoes that occurred in March of 2023. The 60 tornadoes in April also set a new record for the most tornadoes to occur in Illinois in the month of April -- a record that still stands as of 2024. The previous record was 46 in April of 1998.

By the original Fujita damage assessment rating, the distribution of tornadoes was as follows:

The lone tornado that produced F3 damage in Illinois was the tornado that occurred in Massac County, near Metropolis, at around 330 pm on September 22nd. The tornado injured 2 people, tossed several vehicles up to 100 yards, blew the walls and roof off of a log home, uprooted hundreds of trees, damaged power poles, and destroyed four mobile homes. The other tornadoes rated F3 or higher produced F3+ damage in Missouri before crossing into Illinois, where they only produced up to F2-rated damage.

The large number of tornadoes in 2006 came on the heels of drought conditions the previous year, when only 22 tornadoes occurred in Illinois. A very mild winter and an active storm track across Illinois in March and April set the stage for an early start to the record-setting tornado year in the state.

Ten of the tornadoes occurred in northeast and north central Illinois, including 4 in Iroquois County, 2 in Ford County, 1 in LaSalle County, 1 in Kankakee County, 1 in Livingston County, and 1 in Cook County. They were all F0 and F1 tornadoes. The Cook County tornado was an F0 that occurred on the north side of Chicago at Loyola University on September 22.