Illinois Severe Weather Preparedness Week
February 27 - March 5, 2011
Tornado near Yates City, IL 6/5/10 Springfield, IL Flash Flooding 5/26/10
Photo by Jarrod Cook Photo by Jim Gray
Severe weather, heavy rain and flooding impacted nearly every corner of Illinois in 2010. Tornadoes touched down 48 times, injuring 40 people, killing one person, and causing hundreds of millions of dollain damage.
Heavy rainfall the past three years has resulted in 10 fatalities in Illinois, eight of them in automobiles caught in flood waters. The bottom line: Illinoisans must be prepared for the impacts of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flooding.
To help the citizens of Illinois be more aware of the dangers of severe storms and flooding, the National Weather Service (NWS), in cooperation with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), has declared the week of February 27 – March 5, 2011 Severe Weather Preparedness Week in the state of Illinois.
There is nothing we can do to stop severe thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes or floods from developing. However, there are things that everyone can do to minimize the impacts of severe weather on our lives.
What you can do to be prepared:
"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."
-- Ben Franklin
Illinois Emergency Thunderstorms, Interested in Storm Spotting?
Management Agency Tornadoes & Click the SKYWARN logo
Severe Weather Guide Lightning (24.8 MB pdf) above for a list of classes
Tornadoes (Click for a larger image)
Frequency of Illinois Tornadoes 1950 - 2010 by month
Frequency of central IL tornadoes by hour of the day
Central and Southeast Illinois Tornadoes 1950 - 2009
Severe Thunderstorm Wind and Hail
Frequency of Severe Thunderstorm Wind Reports