Record Number of Tornadoes in Illinois in 2006

A total of 124 tornadoes occurred the state of Illinois in 2006, breaking the previous state record of 120 tornadoes that occurred in 2003. 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. At the time, this was the second largest tornado outbreak on record (since 1950) in Illinois. The largest tornado outbreak in Illinois occurred on April 19, 1996, when 39 tornadoes struck the state.

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:

Month	Tornadoes
January	1
February	1
March	21
April	60
May	17
June	2
July	16
August	0
September	6
October	0
November	0
December	0

At the time, the 21 tornadoes in March set a new record for the most tornadoes during that month in Illinois since 1950. 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 during that month in Illinois since 1950. The previous record was 46 in April of 1998.

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

F0 (weak)	72
F1 (weak)	36
F2 (strong)	11
F3 (strong)	4
F4 (violent)	1
F5 (violent)	0

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.