Correction (August 31, 2026): An earlier version of this article reported that a tornado in Wells County, Indiana on March 10, 2026 was rated EF5. That was incorrect. The claim originated from a single erroneous data point in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit feed; the Wells County tornado occurred on March 11 and was rated EF0. No tornado in this outbreak was rated above EF3, and there has been no EF5 in the United States since Enderlin, North Dakota, on June 20, 2025. The article has been corrected throughout, and we thank the reader who flagged the error.
Further corrections (September 4, 2026): a review prompted by the above found additional errors, now fixed. The Kankakee and Aroma Park entries described a single EF3 tornado that had been listed twice, double-counting its casualties; they are now merged. Injury counts for the Three Rivers, Michigan and Jefferson, Texas tornadoes were overstated (110 and 20; actual 10 and 2), and a fatality was incorrectly attributed to the Three Rivers tornado. Outbreak totals are now 11 killed and 43 injured, replacing the previous 12 and 144+.
Further corrections (September 25, 2026): a second independent fact-check against final National Weather Service surveys found more errors, now fixed. The 12-year-old boy killed in Michigan on March 6 died in a separate EF1 tornado near Edwardsburg, not the Union City EF3; the Union City tornado killed three others. The two deaths near Fairview, Oklahoma were caused by a separate EF2 tornado in Major County, not the Helena tornado. Weekday labels were wrong (March 5 was a Thursday), and on March 5 the Storm Prediction Center had issued an Enhanced Risk, not a Moderate Risk. Final NWS Chicago survey figures for the Kankakee–Roselawn EF3 are 160 mph peak winds, a 35.6-mile path, and 19 injuries (previously 150 mph, about 35 miles, and 11). Three tornadoes reached EF3, so none is singled out as the outbreak's strongest. The Kankakee hailstone has since been confirmed as the Illinois state record. We also added three EF2 tornadoes the article had omitted (Helena–Nash, Oklahoma; Bluff City, Kansas; Knox, Indiana), bringing the count of significant tornadoes to 11 across seven states. The Beggs, Oklahoma tornado also injured two people, and details of the Jefferson, Texas and Collinsville–Oologah, Oklahoma tornadoes and of Union City's place in Michigan's record were corrected to match the NWS surveys. A breakdown of individual damage-survey points was removed, since only surveyed paths carry a tornado's rating, and the interactive map was withdrawn to be rebuilt from the final surveys. The death toll of 11 is unchanged; injuries now total at least 46.
See events like this as they unfold
DisasterAWARE Enterprise monitors 30+ hazard types worldwide in real time — with the population, infrastructure, and assets exposed under each one.
The interactive map of this outbreak has been temporarily removed while it is rebuilt from the final National Weather Service damage surveys.
The outbreak began Thursday evening when a powerful supercell developed across northwestern Oklahoma. The Storm Prediction Center had issued an Enhanced Risk for severe weather from the eastern Texas Panhandle into western Oklahoma.
WFO: Norman (OUN) · 2 fatalities
The first deadly tornado of the outbreak touched down in Major County at about 8:08 p.m. CST, roughly 6 miles east-southeast of Orion, and tracked 7.1 miles before lifting west of Fairview at 8:26 p.m., with peak winds estimated at 115 mph. A 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter from Fairview were killed when the tornado struck their vehicle and rolled it roughly 520 yards.
Two more EF2 tornadoes followed that night, neither fatal: one tracked 19.1 miles from near Helena to Nash in Alfalfa and Grant counties, Oklahoma, and a brief EF2 overturned an oil pumpjack near Bluff City in Sumner County, Kansas, shortly before midnight.
Friday was the most violent day of the first wave. By just after 3 p.m. EST, a single supercell over La Porte County, Indiana was tracking northeast into southwest Michigan, producing four tornadoes in rapid succession. Simultaneously, another wave of severe weather tore through northeastern Oklahoma.
WFO: Northern Indiana (IWX) · 1 fatality
The supercell's first tornado touched down west of Edwardsburg in Cass County at about 3:09 p.m. Though rated only EF1, with peak winds near 95 mph, it proved deadly: a 12-year-old boy was killed.
WFO: Northern Indiana (IWX) · 10 injuries
The supercell's second tornado intensified as it approached Three Rivers in St. Joseph County, reaching EF2 intensity with winds of 130 mph. Dramatic footage captured the twister ripping the roof off a Menards store and tearing apart a nearby Dollar Tree. The tornado injured 10 people.
WFO: Northern Indiana (IWX) · 3 fatalities · 12 injuries
The deadliest tornado of the first wave touched down at approximately 4:33 p.m. on the northwest side of Union Lake in northern Branch County. It rapidly intensified into a multi-vortex tornado, reaching EF3 intensity with winds up to 160 mph — the strongest tornado to strike Michigan in 49 years and, according to the NWS, the earliest EF3-or-stronger tornado in the calendar year on record for Michigan.
Three people were killed and 12 others were injured. Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for the affected counties.
WFO: Tulsa (TSA) · 2 fatalities · 2 injuries
Another deadly EF3 tornado ripped through Beggs in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, with peak winds of 135–140 mph. Todd and Becky McClellan of Beggs were killed in the storm.
WFO: Tulsa (TSA) · No fatalities
A separate tornado was confirmed in Rogers County, tracking 4.7 miles from east of Collinsville to south of Oologah, rated EF2 with peak winds between 125–135 mph.
More nocturnal tornadoes struck in the predawn hours of March 7 as the storm system pushed eastward — making them particularly dangerous nighttime tornadoes.
WFO: Shreveport (SHV) · 2 injuries
A tornado touched down around 3 a.m. near U.S. Highway 59 and moved toward Prospect Road, with winds up to 115 mph. Two people were injured when their camper was tossed.
WFO: Shreveport (SHV) · 1 injury
A tornado struck at 5:37 a.m., tearing through the area near Willisville with a 2.73-mile path and maximum winds of 125 mph.
After a brief lull, the outbreak roared back on March 10 with a second wave of severe weather that produced more significant tornadoes across Illinois and Indiana — including a long-track EF3 that matched Union City's 160 mph peak winds.
WFO: Chicago (LOT) · 3 fatalities · 19 injuries
A long-track supercell across northeastern Illinois produced this tornado on the evening of March 10. It touched down at 6:21 p.m. CDT southwest of Kankakee, tracked through southern Kankakee and Aroma Park, and continued northeast across the state line into Newton County, Indiana, striking Lake Village and Roselawn before lifting west of DeMotte at 7:39 p.m. — a continuous 35.6-mile path through Kankakee, Newton, and Jasper counties, with a maximum width of 1,550 yards (0.88 mile). The tornado reached high-end EF3 intensity, with estimated peak winds of 160 mph.
Three people were killed, among them Ed and Arlene Kozlowski of Lake Village, Indiana, whose home was struck directly in what officials described as "total devastation" for the community. Nineteen people were injured along the track. NWS Chicago also identified two brief precursor tornadoes and four satellite tornadoes associated with the storm, none rated above EF1.
The same supercell also dropped giant hail on Kankakee. A 6.6-inch hailstone collected by a local family was officially confirmed in August 2026 as the Illinois state record, far surpassing the previous 4.75-inch record set near Minooka in 2015.
Later that evening, the same supercell produced a low-end EF2 tornado, with peak winds near 115 mph, that tracked toward Knox in Starke County, Indiana, prompting the NWS office in Northern Indiana to issue a tornado emergency for the city.
The outbreak was driven by two distinct rounds of potent spring-like weather systems despite occurring in early March — well ahead of the traditional peak tornado season (April–June).
First wave (March 5–7): Strong wind shear, high storm-relative helicity, and unusually high CAPE for early March. A stalled warm front along the Indiana-Michigan border triggered explosive supercell development.
Second wave (March 10): A second powerful storm system produced the long-track supercell that devastated communities from Illinois through northwest Indiana, along with a record-setting 6.6-inch hailstone.
The DisasterAWARE platform monitored this outbreak in real-time across all six days, providing automated hazard detection, impact exposure analysis, and multi-source data fusion combining radar signatures, ground truth reports, and NWS damage assessment surveys.
Organizations using DisasterAWARE Enterprise receive alerts within minutes of each National Weather Service tornado warning.
This outbreak is a stark reminder that significant, deadly tornadoes can occur well outside the traditional peak season.
Data sources: National Weather Service damage assessment teams (OUN, ICT, IWX, TSA, SHV, LOT), Storm Prediction Center, local storm reports.
Check tornado risk where you are
Live tornado alerts (updated hourly), risk scores, and historical activity for your city: Tornado Risk & Live Intelligence Hub · New York · Toronto · Chicago · Boston · Philadelphia
-min.png)
.png)
.png)
Decision-ready intelligence for understanding what's happening, what is impacted, and what to do next. Global hazard, severe weather, catastrophe, and physical risk intelligence trusted by governments, enterprises, insurers, humanitarian organizations, and technology platforms worldwide.
Request DemoContact Us
