Is Chicago Now Part Of Tornado Alley?

CHICAGO — “Tornado Alley” might not be in Kansas anymore, Toto.

A stormy season has spun up 173 tornadoes in Illinois, topping the previous state record of 142 tornadoes in 2024, according to the National Weather Service.

“Twenty or 30 years ago, Tornado Alley, so to speak, was out in the Plains states,” WGN-TV meteorologist Bill Snyder said. “A dry line with warm air from the southwest would collide with humid air from the Gulf, and cool air from the north would fuel big storms.”

But that’s all changed, Snyder said. Illinois now leads the country in total tornadoes so far in 2026, and it isn’t even close.

There have been 61 tornadoes reported in Iowa, 76 in Missouri and 82 in Mississippi according to data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas — states once considered the heart of Tornado Alley — each have reported less than a third of total tornadoes than Illinois this year.

“The fact is we’ve now seen a notable increase in our area,” Snyder said. “The statistics are just jaw-dropping.”

Between 1950 and 2022, there had only been four years where Illinois recorded over 100 tornadoes, according to historical data from the National Weather Service.

2026 marks the fourth consecutive year of over 100 twisters in the state. On Sunday, the first official day of summer, Illinois set the record for the most tornadoes in a year.

Is Climate Change The Reason?

“There’s no question that we’re getting warmer,” Snyder said. “Gulf of Mexico temperatures continue to escalate. That sends more water vapor into the atmosphere. Our warmer winters in Chicago lead to a very active spring.”

Other states experiencing large increases in tornadoes include Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana, Snyder said.

“I’m worried Tornado Alley is shifting from more rural areas into more populated areas, and not all of them have the storm structures in place to be fully ready for big storms,” he said.

So is Chicago part of the shifting Tornado Alley?

Not necessarily, Snyder said.

“I would consider parts of Interstate 80 and Central Illinois part of ‘tornado alley,” he said. “We can certainly get tornadoes in Chicago, and have had many recently and over the years. But there is some influence from Lake Michigan. The cool winds that come off the lake are a stabilizing mechanism that tends to hold stationary fronts a bit further south of the city.”

While Snyder said Tornado Alley’s shift is real, improved technology is also helping experts better track and verify the total number of tornadoes.

“We are so much better at seeing tornadoes on the doppler radar,” Snyder said. “So the day after a storm, the National Weather Service can dispatch damage assessment teams to exact locations and find storm damage.”

Decades ago, many tornadoes would have never been seen by meteorologists tracking storms in real time, and damage in rural areas would have gone unseen, Snyder said.

“Most of the tornadoes we see are low intensity, which can still cause damage but is a bit more isolated to one area and is far less deadly,” Snyder said.

“But we are still seeing far greater numbers of destructive storms too.”