There are a variety of severe weather hazards that affect Illinois, including floods, thunderstorms, and tornadoes. Every year lives are threatened or lost, and property is destroyed by severe weather events in the State.
Tornadoes pose the greatest severe weather risk to residents of Illinois.
An average of 27 tornadoes occur in the State per year. May. There were no tornado fatalities last year, but a number of people were injured. Most tornadoes produce rotating winds of 50 to 120 mph. They move at speeds of about 30 to 40 mph. There have been tornadoes recorded in Illinois with winds of 200 mph moving at up to 70 mph.