One U.S. state has been ravaged by tornadoes far more than any other state so far in 2026, and it's not in the South, or a state you'd likely think of first.

It's the Land of Lincoln

Through Monday, July 27, there have been a combined 220 reports of and confirmed tornadoes this year in Illinois, according to preliminary data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.

That's more than twice the tally from any other state through almost the first seven months of 2026.

It's over four times the number in the notoriously tornadic state of Oklahoma.

These preliminary totals are combination of both tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service and other reports of tornadoes that may or may not be confirmed later once the data is finalized in several months.

It started in winter

On Feb. 19, eight weak tornadoes were confirmed in southern Illinois, including a damaging EF1 near the town of Flat Rock.

Then, twin outbreaks on March 10 and March 15 spawned three dozen confirmed tornadoes in the state, including one supercell that spawned 12 separate tornadoes, one of which heavily damaged parts of the city of Kankakee.

The April 17 outbreak hammered Illinois with over 40 confirmed tornadoes. There were six other April days with at least one reported tornado in the state.

Following a quieter May with only one tornado, June picked up right where April left off, with tornadoes on back-to-back days June 10-11. That included EF3 tornadoes in Streator and near Washburn, Illinois.

Another eight tornadoes were confirmed in a June 17 rash of severe weather, including one rated EF3 near Effingham, and an EF1 tornado near Springfield.

Father's Day followed with another rash of severe weather, including 20 confirmed tornadoes in central and southern Illinois. Among those was an EF3 north of Mt. Vernon, southern Illinois' strongest June tornado in 36 years, according to the National Weather Service.

The most recent rash of severe weather spawned multiple tornadoes around Chicagoland and elsewhere in northeast Illinois on July 27.

Another state smashed records

Second on the list above is Indiana. Their tally of 88 includes 77 confirmed tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service's Indianapolis office.

That's a record for any full year, topping 72 set in 2011. And it was done in just six months.

A whopping 58 of those were in June, Indiana's most of any month dating to 1950. Their previous record for any month was 44 tornadoes in June 1990. That's more tornadoes in one month than Oklahoma's preliminary tally all year, so far.

That included a dozen tornadoes on Father's Day in the southern half of the state.

Why so many?

According to the Illinois State Climatology Office, the state averages around 54 tornadoes a year.

This spring and early summer, a persistent pattern was in place featuring a sharp southward plunge of the jet stream swinging into the Midwest tapping warm and humid air. This is the classic signature for outbreaks of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

This warm, humid air was unusually persistent in the Midwest. It was the record warmest April and third warmest spring in Illinois dating to 1895, according to NOAA.

These states were weirdly lacking

Meanwhile, typically active states in the South have had more pedestrian preliminary tornado stats, so far.

As you can see in the graph near the top of this article, Mississippi has held its own, in third place with 87 preliminary reports and confirmed tornadoes.

But tallies from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, while not egregiously below average, look much more pedestrian.

One state notorious for tornadoes, Alabama, didn't make the top 10, with only 46, due in part to a weird April shutout statewide, typically its most active month.

Another Midwest oddity

Four of the top five tornado states are in the Midwest, including Indiana (88), Missouri (83) and Iowa (71).

One other state made a strange appearance in the top 10 bar graph above.

Wisconsin's tally of 51 includes 40 confirmed tornadoes, so far.

That confirmed total is almost double the Badger State's average for an entire year (23) and one more than its confirmed tally last year.

It was largely paced by 27 April tornadoes, the most on record for any April in the state, including a pair rated EF3.

It includes four EF3 tornadoes, the first in the state since 2021 and the most of any year in Wisconsin since 1984. The latest of these strong tornadoes raked through parts of the cities of Appleton and Menasha on July 27.

(MORE PHOTOS: Strong tornado raked Wisconsin's Fox Valley)

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.