November tornadoes seem out of place in Illinois. But weather statistics show they're not uncommon. Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel studied the years 1950 to 2010 and found nearly 70 tornadoes occurred in November. That's more than October or December.
But what made Sunday different was the outbreak that occurred.
"All our other outbreaks tend to happen in the springtime," Angel said. "So the ones in November tend to be single events, but this is by far the biggest number that we've seen in November."
Angel also said in recent years, the state has seen more "cold weather" tornadoes. He points to a February 2012 storm in Harrisburg that killed eight people. That was classified as an EF-4 tornado, the second most powerful. Two of the tornadoes this past weekend were also EF-4.
Those are rare in the state, but they have accounted for the most deaths, according to the weather statistics. Six people died in Illinois Sunday.
More from Jim Angel can be found here.
