Tornadoes in Illinois: The National Weather Service confirms that severe weather in July reached a record high with 32 tornadoes in the Chicago area

CHICAGO– During the July 15 derecho storm that swept through the region, the Chicago area was hit by a record 32 tornadoes.

According to the National Weather Service, it was the “most severe tornado event” in Chicago area history, breaking the record for the highest number of tornadoes reported in a single event.

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Another storm the day before had spawned nine tornadoes in the Chicago area. Together, the two storms spawned a total of 41 tornadoes in the area within 36 hours.

On July 15, all signs of severe weather were at their strongest, weather service meteorologist Jake Petr told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“We had already received a report a few hours earlier that several tornadoes were possible in our area,” said Petr.

There was a mixture of warm, moist air near the ground and cooler air higher up. Meteorologists call these conditions the “ring of fire.”

The storm system moved through Iowa, Illinois and Indiana with destructive winds of 60 to 100 miles per hour.

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At times, the storm produced multiple tornadoes simultaneously. In the Chicago area, there were five active tornadoes at one point.

“It was certainly a historic event for the Chicago area and Northern Illinois,” Petr said.

The region's strongest tornado, an EF-2, moved from Channahon to Matteson in the southwest suburbs.

Four tornadoes were reported in the city: on the Near West Side along the Eisenhower Expressway, in West Town, in Chicago Lawn and West Englewood, and at O'Hare Airport.

The path of the O'Hare tornado was nearly 4 miles long, with winds up to 80 mph, according to the weather service.

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Since the storm, the weather service has evaluated over 1,500 damage reports.

The weather service points out that its technology for detecting tornadoes has improved significantly in recent years, so it is possible that smaller tornadoes have been underestimated in the past.

Still, 32 tornadoes far exceeded the previous record of 22 tornadoes in one day, set by storms in 2023 and 2014.

The weather service plans to publish a final report in November.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.