Record Number Of Tornadoes In 2006
Posted at December 14, 2006 by Greg Perkins
A total of 125 tornadoes were reported within the state of Illinois so far in 2006, breaking the 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 12 - 12 tornadoes, including two which produced F2 damage in the city of Springfield. 26 injuries were reported from the tornadoes.
- April 2 - 36 tornadoes, which resulted in 1 fatality in Fairview Heights (St. Clair County) and a total of 16 injuries. This was the second largest tornado outbreak in Illinois since 1950. The biggest tornado outbreak occurred on April 19, 1996 when 41 tornadoes struck the state.
- April 16 - 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:
- January - 1
- February - 1
- March - 21
- April - 60
- May - 17
- June - 2
- July - 16
- August - 0
- September - 6
- October - 0
- November - 0
- December - 0 (through the 12th)
The total of 21 new tornadoes in March set a new record for the most tornadoes during that month in Illinois since 1950. The previous record was 12 in March of 1976. The total of 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 Fujita Damage Assessment Rating, the distribution of tornadoes was as follows:
- F0 - 73
- F1 - 35
- F2 - 15
- F3 - 1
- F4 - 0
- F5 - 0
The lone F3 tornado occurred in Massac County Illinois, near Metropolis, around 3:30 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 4 mobile homes.The large numbers of tornadoes during 2006 came on the heels of drought conditions the previous year, when only 19 tornadoes were reported 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 season in the state.Ten of the tornadoes were in Northeast and North-Central Illinois including 4 in Iroquois County, 2 in Ford County and 1 each in Kankakee, LaSalle, Livingston, and Cook Counties. There were all F0 or F1. The Cook County tornado was an F0 that struck the north side of Chicago at Loyola University on September 22nd.The following are links to two videos of the Loyola University tornado:
