Tornado outbreak of March 10–12, 2026
Weather event in the United States
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A large tornado outbreak took place from March 10–12, 2026 within the Midwestern United States, Southern Plains, and Southeastern United States. The Storm Prediction Center forecasted a tornado-driven moderate risk for severe weather on March 10, covering portions of central and eastern Illinois and northwestern portions of Indiana with a risk for very large hail, damaging winds, and strong to intense tornadoes.[1]
Map of tornadoes and counties placed under tornado warnings from March 10 to March 12 | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Duration | March 10–12, 2026 |
| Tornado outbreak | |
| Tornadoes | 106 |
Max. rating | EF3 tornado |
| Duration | 1 day, 20 hours, 25 minutes |
| Highest winds | Tornadic – 160 mph (260 km/h) (Aroma Park, Illinois EF3 on March 10) |
| Highest gusts | Non-tornadic – 90 mph (140 km/h) (near Excel, AL on March 11) |
| Largest hail | 6.616 in (16.80 cm) – Kankakee, Illinois on March 10 |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Injuries | 17 (+8 Non-tornadic) |
Areas affected | Southern, Midwestern and Eastern United States |
Part of the Tornadoes of 2026 | |
Tornado watches were issued from Texas to Indiana during the late afternoon and early evening due to the risk of severe weather.[2][3] A large tornado passed through the Kankakee, Illinois suburb of Aroma Park,[4] causing significant damage and killing one person, before crossing into Indiana and striking Lake Village, where it would kill an additional two people. Along its track, 11 others were injured.[5][6][7] The supercell thunderstorm that spawned the tornado near Kankakee also produced potentially record breaking hail, with a storm report of a 6.14 inches (15.6 cm) in diameter hailstone occurring in the Kankakee area, which, if confirmed, would break the former Illinois state record of 4.75 inches (12.1 cm) in diameter hail.[8][9][10][11] A hailstone with a diameter measured by Northern Illinois University of 6.616 inches (16.80 cm) was also discovered in Kankakee by the Dorris family, which is currently undergoing the verification process for becoming the new Illinois state hailstone size record holder.[12][13] The supercell would continue producing tornadoes, including one which led to a tornado emergency being issued for Knox, Indiana.[14][15] In all, the supercell produced 12 tornadoes: six rated EFU, two rated EF0, two rated EF1, one rated EF2, and one rated EF3. Three of the EFU tornadoes and one of the EF1 tornadoes were satellite tornadoes of the Aroma Park—Lake Village EF3 tornado, and one of the EF0 tornadoes was a satellite of the Knox EF2 tornado.[16] In addition to the tornadoes, a group of hailstorms impacted parts of the Kansas City metropolitan area, producing 3.00 inches (7.6 cm) diameter hailstones in the Victory Hills neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, and 4.50 inches (11.4 cm) and 4.00 inches (10.2 cm) diameter hailstones near Weatherby Lake and at Lake Waukomis respectively, both in Kansas City, Missouri.[17][18] Other locations where particularly large hail fell were Campus, Illinois with 5.50 inches (14.0 cm) diameter hail, the Chicago suburb of Darien, Illinois with 4.80 inches (12.2 cm) diameter hail, and near Camp Wood, Texas and Leakey, Texas, both with 4.50 inches (11.4 cm) diameter hail. All these very large hail events occurred on March 10.[19]
In the following days, dozens of relatively weak and short-lived tornadoes occurred in the Southeastern United States, with the majority of them taking place in Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama. On March 12, an EF2 tornado touched down in Macon County, Georgia, just northwest of Marshallville. The tornado tracked eastward, destroying several mobile homes and injuring two people.[7]
Meteorological synopsis
Shortly after the tornado outbreak of March 5–7, 2026, another severe weather outbreak was forecasted for March 10th. During the morning of the outbreak, a warm front had moved into Northern Illinois, where it stalled due to a lake breeze from Lake Michigan. The environment was very favorable for severe weather across the Midwest to the central plains, with CAPE values over 3000 J/KG and moderate to strong wind shear present across the risk area. Before the 1630Z outlook, a mesoscale discussion was issued for the upgrade to a tornado-driven moderate risk.[20] Additionally, a dryline in Texas led to a threat for large hail and severe winds.
Confirmed tornadoes
| EFU | EF0 | EF1 | EF2 | EF3 | EF4 | EF5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 40 | 54 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 106 |
Kankakee–Aroma Park, Illinois/Lake Village–Roselawn, Indiana
.png) The tornado, as seen from Kankakee Community College | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | March 10, 2026, 7:21 p.m. CDT (UTC–05:00) |
| Dissipated | March 10, 2026, 8:39 p.m. CDT (UTC–05:00) |
| Duration | 1 hour, 18 minutes |
| EF3 tornado | |
| on the Enhanced Fujita scale | |
| Highest winds | 160 mph (260 km/h) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Injuries | 11 |
This large, long-lived, and destructive tornado first touched down in Kankakee County, just east of South 1000 West Road and moved east-northeastward, damaging a solar farm and a warehouse at high-end EF0 strength as it crossed CN Railway's Chicago Subdivision. It then intensified to EF1 strength as it entered the far southern portions of Kankakee, causing damage to numerous trees, businesses, homes, and various other structures. An Aldi location had its south-facing windows shattered, and a large metal building had roof and wall panels peeled away. The tornado then crossed US 45/US 52 before entering more residential areas, with a home along Seedorf School Road being completely destroyed when the tornado abruptly strengthened and briefly reached EF3 intensity, along with several outbuildings. Several large trees were damaged and uprooted in the area. The tornado then weakened and crossed just north of the East 2500S Road/South 500E Road intersection, tracking over empty farmland and inflicting EF0 damage to the roof of a home before crossing I-57. The tornado then began to grow larger and reintensified, inflicting EF1 damage to several homes along the western shore of the Kankakee River before crossing the body of water, tracking into northern portions of Aroma Park. Numerous homes along the eastern shore of the Kankakee River suffered EF1-rated damage, along with uprooted trees and a destroyed outbuilding.[7] A 65-year-old man in the area was killed after his home, which was along Oakwood Drive, suffered damage.[21]
The now-large tornado then intensified further as it crossed Waldron Road, where power poles were snapped, and a nearby home and garage suffered extensive EF2 damage, with the garage having the entire roof torn away and the house having around half of its roof ripped off.[7] The tornado then turned southeastward and tracked further into the suburb, damaging numerous homes, including several that suffered significant EF2 damage. The tornado then crossed the KBSR's Kankakee Line before exiting Aroma Park, tracking over a large expanse of empty land at EF0 strength as it turned eastward and approached the Kankakee River for a second time. The tornado the rapidly strengthened again and reached its peak intensity of high-end EF3 as it turned back to the northeast and crossed South Sandbar Road along the western side of the river, where two homes were completely destroyed, and several others suffered severe damage. One two-story home had most of its upper floor removed; the lower floor suffered the collapse of at least one exterior wall, and a nearby garage was obliterated, with debris blown across the road. Another home that was on a foundation made of cinder blocks was entirely demolished. Numerous hardwood trees in the area were significantly damaged, with some being completely uprooted or stubbed. A large pickup truck was displaced over 100 feet (30 m), and an SUV was rolled. The tornado then crossed the Kankakee River once more before snapping trees at EF2 strength as it tracked over a golf course. Two satellite tornadoes, one rated EF1 and the other rated EFU, were spawned by the parent supercell to the north of this tornado near Sun River Terrace during this time as well. The tornado then narrowed and tracked erratically east-northeastward through less populated areas as it crossed IL 1 and passed north of Wichert and Hopkins Park, inflicting scattered EF0-EF1 damage to homes, trees, and powerlines while the parent supercell spawned two more EFU satellite tornadoes to the north of this tornado as well. The tornado tracked over North 700 West Road into Newton County, Indiana and began to approach Lake Village from the west. The tornado then reintensified as it turned east-southeastward and crossed North 650 West Road, where it destroyed several farm outbuildings and significantly damaged a mobile home at EF2 intensity. The tornado then intensified further as it crossed North 600 West Road where three mobile homes were swept clean off their foundations with two of them earning low-end EF3 ratings; two elderly individuals were killed in the northernmost home.[22] A large van was thrown into an area of displaced debris, two nearby outbuildings were destroyed, and trees were heavily damaged with some being debarked. An additional mobile home suffered EF1 damage, with the entire roof being torn away. The tornado continued to move eastward, inflicting EF1 damage to homes and trees and completely demolishing an outbuilding at low-end EF2 strength.[7]
The tornado crossed US 41 before impacting the southern parts of Lake Village. It damaged the walls and roofs of several homes at EF2 intensity, including a single-story triplex that suffered high-end EF2 damage, with the roof being torn away and several walls collapsing. Kentland Bank had its drive-through canopy destroyed and numerous shingles removed, with several large trees suffering limb loss nearby. A Family Dollar had its entire roof removed, with the front of the building partially collapsing.[23] The tornado then turned to the east-northeast, destroying an outbuilding at EF2 strength and damaging several homes at EF0–EF1 intensity as it approached and then crossed SR 10. The tornado then continued erratically in an east-northeastward motion, damaging trees, outbuildings, and power poles as it crossed SR 55 south of Thayer while approaching Roselawn, turning sharper to the northeast and narrowing just before striking the community, just missing it. The tornado then crossed I-65 and entered Jasper County causing EF1 damage as it struck Forest City, before dissipating just northeast of the community along North 1100 West Road.[7]
The tornado traveled 35.62 miles (57.32 km) and reached a maximum width of 1,550 yards (1,420 m).[7] In Kankakee County, nearly 500 buildings sustained damage, with 30 homes being completely destroyed. In Newton County near Lake Village, around 106 buildings were damaged, 32 of which were destroyed.[23][24] Illinois Governor JB Pritzker visited impacted areas in Aroma Park, and Indiana Governor Mike Braun toured damage in Lake Village.[25][24]
Non-tornadic effects
The storm brought snowfall to portions of the Washington metropolitan area, peaking at 1.2 inches (3.0 cm) in Montgomery County, Maryland. This was just 24 hours after temperatures reached 80°F (27°C) or more.[26] The strongest straight-line winds estimated were from a downburst in the Excel, Alabama area on March 11, with winds gusting to a maximum of 90 miles per hour (140 km/h). Other notable peak gusts were an estimated 75–85 miles per hour (121–137 km/h) gust near Bassfield, Mississippi on March 11, a directly measured 79 miles per hour (127 km/h) wind gust near Iconium, Missouri on March 11, an estimated 80–85 miles per hour (129–137 km/h) gust in Garnett, Kansas on March 10, and a directly measured 77 miles per hour (124 km/h) wind gust near Bucklin, Missouri on March 10.[27][28]
Straight-line winds also caused multiple injuries during the outbreak, including one injury near Bethalto, Illinois on March 10, two injuries near Ashton, Georgia on March 11, two injuries (one critical) after a tree fell onto people near Topeka, Mississippi on March 11, two injuries in the Upper Sandusky, Ohio area on March 11, and one injury near Bayboro, North Carolina on March 12.[29][30][31][32] Despite the widespread very severe hail falling in populated areas, no serious injuries from hail was reported.
Aftermath
The tornadoes during this outbreak killed a total of three people, and injured at least 17 others. The straight-line winds injured at least eight people, including one critically. Either the 6.616 inches (16.80 cm) or 6.14 inches (15.6 cm) diameter hailstones which fell in Kankakee, IL will likely become the largest hailstone to fall in the state of Illinois.[33]
See also
