NWS Confirms Multiple EF-1 Tornadoes Touch Down Across Central Illinois

Steel roof panels ripped from the east side of the Nokomis Junior High gymnasium when an EF-1 tornado tore through the Nokomis and Pana area on March 17, 2026, forcing the district to close schools the following Monday while NWS Lincoln survey teams finished assessing the damage.

The National Weather Service office in Lincoln confirmed the mid-March severe storm outbreak produced multiple tornado touchdowns across central Illinois, though the final count remained in flux as surveys continued. Capitol City Now reported NWS Lincoln acknowledged the complete data for the tornado was still being finalized. Early reports placed the number at six confirmed tornadoes; WAND-TV subsequently reported NWS Lincoln had confirmed eight, a figure that included newly assessed tornadoes near Stewardson in Shelby County, Windsor, Lovington, Hammond in Piatt County, Flatville, and Gifford, added to three previously confirmed tornadoes: an EF-2 in Cumberland and Coles County, an EF-1 northwest of Mattoon, and an EF-1 in Paris.

Beyond the Nokomis school damage, the most powerful tornado in the outbreak struck outside Hammond in Piatt County, where the EF-2 registered maximum winds of 115 miles per hour and stayed on the ground for more than 10 miles. It originated near Highway 36 and lifted near the Champaign County line, toppling a cell tower and damaging several outbuildings. No injuries were reported there. The EF-2 that struck Cumberland and Coles County on March 14 caused significant damage to a school, with drone footage of Neoga capturing the scale of destruction.

The Stewardson EF-1 in Shelby County tracked nearly five miles and carried winds of 90 miles per hour. It first touched down about two miles south of Stewardson, traveled northeast, and peeled the roof off a farmhouse before lifting near County Road North 3100 East and County Road East 300 North. NWS Lincoln also confirmed EF-1s in Assumption, Lovington, and Tuscola, and EF-0s in Bethany and Arthur. A separate tornado that crossed from Montgomery into Christian County spanned two NWS forecast office jurisdictions; NWS Lincoln was coordinating with the NWS office in St. Louis to finalize the rating and path for that storm.

The outbreak adds to a long history of tornado activity across the region. Morgan County alone has recorded 39 tornadoes between January 1950 and the end of 2024, according to the NWS Central Illinois office in Lincoln. One of the county's more destructive single-day events came on August 19, 2009, when seven tornadoes struck parts of Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, Logan, DeWitt, McLean, and Vermilion counties, producing more than $25 million in combined crop and property damage. The Morgan County tornado that day, an EF-1 that touched down two miles northeast of Franklin and crossed into Sangamon County, cut a 2.78-mile path 440 yards wide, causing $100,000 in property damage and $60,000 in crop damage before lifting northwest of Chatham.

With surveys from the mid-March outbreak still ongoing at the time of initial reporting, residents with damage in any of the affected counties were encouraged to document losses and contact local emergency management for coordination with NWS Lincoln, reachable at 217-732-3089.