Thursday night’s tornado outbreak in the Chicago area continues a concerning trend of increasing tornado frequency in the Upper Midwest.
With 140 tornadoes so far this year, Illinois leads the nation in tornado count for the third of the last four years. In a distant second place is Mississippi with 82 tornadoes this year, and Missouri comes in third with 62.
It’s the fourth year in a row that Illinois has surpassed 100 tornadoes. Illinois averages only 54 tornadoes per year, according to the Illinois State Climatologist’s Office…