June 17, 2026    
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Less than a week after our last 2 day chase, Ryan and I head out once again into Illinois on another forecasted Tornado day.  The Storm Prediction Center put out a Moderate Risk for severe storms with a 15% Tornado Risk with an Intensity 2.




Our initial target was Jacksonville, Illinois, so we headed north in the late morning up Highway 67 and had lunch in Jacksonville.  Storms were projected to initiate near the Mississippi River and move east.  After lunch, we thought we'd slide down Interstate 72 westward in the event storms fired further west.  We stopped and waited just short of the Illinois River.  Storms began to fire along a broken line to our north, so we latched onto the descrete cell just to our north and followed it to Springfield, Illinois where the storm became Tornado warned.


We continued to follow it after going through Springfield.  Although the Tornado warning was persistent, we still had no confirmed Tornado reports.  We zigzagged our way eastward and southward to stay in front of the storm.  When we reached the Decatur, Illinois area, we needed to maneuver more south than we wanted to get around Lake Shelbyville.  That put us out of position and a little behind the storm, but the storm continued turning southeast and slowing allowing us to get back in front.



As the storm approached Mattoon, Illinois, we began hearing reports of a Tornado on the ground.  The Tornado was rain wrapped, but at one point near Charleston, Illinois, it danced out of the rain briefly before going right back behind the rain again.  (Mattoon/Charleston IL damage survey below)




With the Tornado continuing to be rain wrapped and with us no longer in a position to see into the notch, we let this storm go by us and put our eyes on another cell coming toward Effingham, Illinois.



The Effinghan storm had a confirmed Tornado as we began heading west toward the storm.  We eventually ended up on Route 1800 looking at the area of the Tornado.  It had weakened considerably from its peak intensity, but we could still faintly see it had a cone on the ground.


As daylight dwindled, we got to the spot where the Tornado passed us in the field just us to our south.  (Effingham, IL damage survey below)




As the Tornado passed by, we made the decision to go south at the intersection we had stopped at.  As we drove south in the fading light and rain, we failed to see a tree that had fallen across the road where the Tornado had just crossed.  A bit of hard braking prevented us from having more of an issue as we smacked into its top branches.  No harm done to our bodies or our car.


We continued driving south, then turned east and found a spot to watch the distant storm to see if it would reorganize.  It wasn't long before we were seeing a funnel in the distance with dancing rain curtains around it.  (Rose Hill, IL damage survey below)



None of the Tornadoes we saw today ever condensed fully to the ground.  All were only confirmed by the wrapping rain curtains around the Tornadoes and the National Weather Service damage survey tracks.
National Weather Service Storm Damage Surveys
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Complete Trip Map

 13.25 Hours  -  518 Miles
Click on the link below to see video of some of these storms.

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