Illinois
Illinois stretches from Chicago's lakefront to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Tornadoes cross the central prairies. The New Madrid Seismic Zone runs beneath the southern tip. And the polar vortex showed that minus 50 degree wind chill is not just a statistic.
Enter your Illinois ZIP for live alerts, forecasts, and county-specific data.
Know your region
Chicago, Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Rockford. The metro faces severe thunderstorms, urban flooding from overwhelmed storm sewers, and brutal winter cold. The 2019 polar vortex brought wind chills to minus 52 degrees F. Lake-effect snow hits the lakefront counties.
Primary hazards: severe storms, urban flooding, extreme cold, lake-effect snow
Springfield, Champaign, Peoria, Bloomington-Normal. The heart of Illinois tornado country. The 2013 Washington tornado (EF4) destroyed a subdivision. The 2020 Midwest derecho caused catastrophic wind damage across the region. Ice storms knock out power for days.
Primary hazards: tornadoes, derecho, ice storms, flooding
Carbondale, Marion, Cairo, the Shawnee region. The New Madrid Seismic Zone runs directly beneath this area. The Mississippi and Ohio rivers flood regularly. This region sits at the intersection of earthquake risk and river flood risk unlike anywhere else in the state.
Primary hazards: earthquakes, river flooding, tornadoes, ice storms
Your hazard profile
Each links to a full guide with during-event protocol, recovery steps, and resources specific to IL.
Illinois averages 54 tornadoes per year. The 2013 Washington tornado (EF4) destroyed entire subdivisions. The 2015 Fairdale tornado (EF4) killed 2 and leveled the village. Central and southern Illinois sit in the most active tornado corridor.
Read the tornadoes guide →
The Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio rivers regularly flood. The Great Flood of 1993 was one of the worst natural disasters in state history. Chicago's aging storm sewers cause billions in basement flooding damage during heavy rain.
Read the flooding guide →
The 2020 Midwest derecho produced catastrophic straight-line winds across central Illinois. Severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds are a near-weekly occurrence from May through August.
Read the severe thunderstorms guide →
The 2019 polar vortex brought wind chills to minus 52 degrees F in Chicago. Ice storms in central and southern Illinois cause widespread power outages lasting days. Northern Illinois receives heavy lake-effect snow.
Read the winter storms and extreme cold guide →
Southern Illinois sits on the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The 1811 and 1812 earthquakes were among the most powerful in U.S. history. A major earthquake on this fault would affect millions across the region. Most buildings are not built to seismic standards.
Read the earthquakes guide →
Illinois resources
Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Coordinates disaster response, manages the state's nuclear safety program, and runs Ready Illinois preparedness campaigns.
Northern Illinois and northwest Indiana forecasts. Severe weather warnings, winter storm advisories, and lake-effect snow forecasts. The primary warning source for the Chicago metro.
Illinois State Geological Survey earthquake information. New Madrid Seismic Zone monitoring, historical earthquake data, and preparedness guidance for southern Illinois.
Statewide information and referral. Energy assistance (LIHEAP), food banks, shelter locations, and disaster recovery resources.
January 2019
On January 30, 2019, Chicago recorded a wind chill of minus 52 degrees F. At those temperatures, frostbite occurs on exposed skin in under 5 minutes. Water mains burst. Rail tracks cracked. Natural gas demand exceeded the system's capacity. Twenty-one people died across the Midwest.
The polar vortex was not a freak event. Similar cold outbreaks occurred in 2014 and have occurred throughout Illinois history. What made 2019 different was awareness: for the first time, millions of people understood that cold can be as lethal as any storm.
For every Illinois household, winter preparation means more than a snow shovel. It means a backup heat source, enough food and water to stay home for days, pipes that are insulated, and the understanding that when the wind chill drops below minus 20, going outside is a risk calculation, not a routine.