30 States in Peril: 2026 Sets New Tornado Records in the US

The United States is experiencing one of its most intense severe weather seasons in recent memory, having registered an extraordinary amount of tornadoes, supercells, and severe weather events across 30 states since the beginning of the year. The National Weather Service's Chicago office has noted a record number of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings issued through April, surpassing the historical average by more than twofold. Notably, Illinois encountered an EF-3 tornado, an EF-2 near Mattoon, and another EF-3 in Indiana during a single outbreak. The Great Lakes area has surprisingly become a focal point for such activity. Experts caution that this high level of atmospheric instability is likely to persist as a significant heat dome settles over the eastern United States, leading to an increase in hazardous convective storms throughout the summer months.