Very Active Start to 2026 Severe Weather Season
Overview
The 2026 extreme climate season is off to a really busy begin with a plethora of early-season particular person extreme climate occasions. As of April 19, 2026, there have been 11 particular person thunderstorm occasions related to at the very least one report of extreme climate (tornadoes, damaging winds, damaging hail and/or flash flooding) inside the NWS Chicago forecast space. The common variety of days with extreme climate from January 1 by way of April 30 with at the very least one report of extreme climate is round 4! Here are the lists of occasions to this point in 2026:
- March 6, 2026: Thunderstorms produce localized flash flooding, damaging winds, and damaging hail close to the southern shore of Lake Michigan
- March 10, 2026: Localized extreme climate outbreak with a number of tornadoes, together with an EF-3, within the Kankakee River Valley and state document massive hail over 6 inches in diameter.
- March 15-16, 2026: Thunderstorms produce localized wind injury close to Will and Cook Counties in northeastern Illinois
- March 26, 2026: Locally damaging hailstorms moved throughout northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana
- March 30-31, 2026: Multiple rounds of thunderstorms produced damaging hail throughout the world
- April 2, 2026: Three tornadoes and swaths of wind injury in northern Illinois
- April 13, 2026: Thunderstorms produce damaging winds and hail injury close to the Kankakee River Valley
- April 14, 2026: Large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding throughout northern Illinois
- April 15, 2026: Locally damaging winds and hail throughout northern Illinois
- April 17, 2026: Regional extreme climate outbreak with damaging winds and tornadoes
Storm Reports
The Lower Great Lakes area has been a hotspot for extreme climate to this point in 2026, with a comparatively dense space of studies of tornadoes, damaging winds, and damaging hail. In specific, a hall from japanese Iowa into southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois has been remarkably lively.
National Reports
| Total variety of twister, damaging winds, and damaging hail studies throughout the United States from 1/1/2026 to 4/19/2026. Link to data. |
National Tornado Reports
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| Total variety of twister studies throughout the United States from 1/1/2026 to 4/19/2026. Link to data. |
National Hail Reports
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| Total variety of damaging hail studies throughout the United States from 1/1/2026 to 4/19/2026. Link to data. |
National Wind Reports
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| Total variety of damaging wind studies throughout the United States from 1/1/2026 to 4/19/2026. Link to data. |
Selected Severe Weather Days Locally
SPC Outlooks and Watches
SPC Severe Weather Outlook Days
The Storm Prediction Center has forecast on the final a part of the NWS Chicago forecast for extreme climate 15 days to this point in 2026, together with an uncommon variety of days at a Level 3 out of 5 (Enhanced) or greater. Typically, our space sees 4 to 8 days with an outlook for extreme climate by way of the top of April.
NWS Chicago | January 1 – April 19, 2026
| SPC Outlook Category | Number of Days |
| Level 1/5 (Marginal) or greater | 15 |
| Level 2/5 (Slight) or greater | 10 |
| Level 3/5 (Enhanced) or greater | 5 |
| Level 4/5 (Moderate) or greater | 1 |
| Level 5/5 (High) | 0 |
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| Calendar of most SPC Day 1 outlook classes impacting the NWS Chicago forecast space from January 1 to April 19, 2026. Image courtesy of the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. |
Selected Severe Weather Outlooks throughout the NWS Chicago Forecast Area:
(Click on picture to go to SPC occasion archive)
Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Watches
There have additionally been an unusually excessive variety of Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm watches issued for our space to this point in 2026. From January 1 to April 19, there have been 8 Severe Thunderstorm and 6 Tornado Watches that included at the very least one county within the NWS Chicago forecast space, making for a complete of 14 convective watches.
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| Number of Tornado Watches issued by county throughout the United States from January 1 to April 19, 2026. This map doesn’t embody native watch extensions. | Number of Severe Thunderstorm Watches issued by county throughout the United States from January 1 to April 19, 2026. This map doesn’t embody native watch extensions. |
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| Number of distinct Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Watches that included at the very least one county within the NWS Chicago Forecast Area from January 1 to April 19, 2026. Data courtesy of the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. |
Local Warnings
Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings
As of April 19, NWS Chicago has issued 128 Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings. This is a document excessive quantity by way of April 19!
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| Number of accrued Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued by NWS Chicago per calendar 12 months. Data for 2026 is thru April 19. |
Confirmed Tornadoes
As of April 19, there have been at the very least 20 tornadoes within the NWS Chicago forecast space. The typical variety of tornadoes in a complete calendar 12 months is between 10 and 20!
Note: Three (3) EF-1 tornadoes crossed into our space of duty and don’t show within the twister depend on the dashboard under.
Select a twister from the desk to zoom into the observe and look at extra data. The default desk view is proscribed to 8 tracks, however may be scrolled by a mouse wheel or dynamically expanded. Additionally, the desk can fill the whole window by clicking the small round increasing arrow icon on the very prime proper of the desk and returned to its authentic dimension by clicking the button once more. The facet data panel that opens over the map may be closed utilizing the “X” within the higher proper nook of the pop-up. Zoom into the map and click on injury factors to see detailed data and photos from the surveys.
The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the next classes:
| EF0 weak 65-85 mph | EF1 Moderate 86-110mph | EF2 Significant 111-135mph | EF3 Severe 136-165mph | EF4 Extreme 166-200mph | EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph |
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| Tornadoes that fail to impression any ratable injury indicators on the EF-Scale are rated EF-Unknown (EF-U) | |||||
Additional Information
Links:
