At least two dead as intense tornadoes move across east central Illinois and northwest Indiana

Tornadic supercell also produced giant hail that was likely largest on record for Illinois, while very large hail also caused serious issues in Chicago, Oklahoma City and Kansas City metros

I think it is fair to say that the last 30 hours has truly seen the first severe weather “outbreak” period of 2026. Nearly 500 reports of severe weather were received by the Storm Prediction Center through 7 am CT this morning, and dozens more reports have been received this morning across Indiana and Ohio as a line of severe storms has produced a number of incidences of wind damage.

As expected, the most high end severe weather occurred across northern Illinois into northwest Indiana as several supercell severe thunderstorms evolved along a strong warm front over the region.

A particularly massive and intense supercell moved east-northeast along an axis from north of Bloomington across Kankakee and into northwest Indiana. This storm produced giant hail across the Kankakee area, with storm chasers measuring hail of at least 5.2” in diameter on the southwest side of the city. It is quite likely that the hail produced by this supercell will be verified as the largest hail on record for the state of Illinois.

Picture of tornado near Kankakee, IL (CNN)

Around or shortly after the time of the radar image above, the supercell produced a large, intense tornado that moved east across the area just south of Kankakee.

The NSSL Multi-radar Multi-sensor system (MRMS) low level rotation tracks product — in which the radar calculates and mosaics rotational values from all of the radars — clearly shows the path of the intense rotation with this supercell as it tracked from southwest of Kankakee east-northeast into north-central Indiana. While there was likely not a continuous tornado along this entire path, significant tornado damage occurred at a number of locations.

Some of the most destructive damage appears to have occurred near the town of Lake Village, IN shortly after 6 pm CDT. This radar four-panel from the Chicago NEXRAD radar shows incredibly intense low level rotation — the “normalized rotation” product on the lower right with values greater than 3 are very impressive. Unfortunately, officials in Lake Village report “total devastation” with at least 2 fatalities and a number of serious injuries.

While only a few tornadoes have been reported so far outside of the northern Illinois/ northeast Indiana region, supercells unfortunately produced swaths of large hail across multiple regions as shown in the MRMS hail swath product above. Over 100 reports of significant hail (2” in diameter or greater) were received by SPC. Supercells produced swaths of hail up to at least baseball sized in the Chicago, Kansas City and Oklahoma City metropolitan areas. Hail up to 4” in diameter occurred in the western Chicago suburbs and in Platte County, MO in the Kansas City metro.

While not expected to be quite as widespread or intense as yesterday, more severe weather is anticipated this afternoon and tonight. The area that seems most concerning as far as tornado potential looks to be along the central Gulf Coast region from the Toledo Bend region east across southern Mississippi and southern Alabama. A squall line will move east across this region, and may be preceded by discrete supercell storms as well. Strong low level wind shear and unusual levels of warmth and moisture could support significant tornadoes, particularly with any storms ahead of the squall line.

The other more focused area for severe weather today looks to be in the upper Ohio Valley, where a band of severe storms is expected to bring additional incidences of straight line wind damage along with potentially a few tornadoes.

The severe weather the last several days has taken much of my focus — but I do want to at least mention that there are other serious weather issues looming, including the return of winter weather to parts of the Midwest and Northeast and a potential record shattering heat wave for the western United States next week. I will have more on all of that once we get through this last wave of severe storms. Look for updates today and this evening on the severe weather on Substack Notes, BlueSky and Facebook — and I will continue to use Substack Chat and Live Video for quick updates that paid subscribers can access.

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