Large EF3 Tornado Hits Kankakee, Illinois - Mar. 10th, 2026

The tornado touched down north of West 3500S Road at EF1 intensity, snapping trees and damaging a home. As it tracked northeast into southern Kankakee, it intensified, shattering windows at an Aldi and peeling panels off a large metal building. It reached high-end EF2 strength near Seedorf School Road, where it completely destroyed a home and several outbuildings. After crossing I-57, the storm hit Aroma Park. Numerous homes along the Kankakee River sustained EF1 to EF2 damage. One fatality occurred on Oakwood Drive when a home was severely damaged. The tornado reached its peak intensity of EF3 (estimated 150 mph winds) as it crossed the Kankakee River for a second time near South Sandbar Road. Two homes were leveled—one cinder block foundation was swept clean—and heavy vehicles, including a pickup truck and an SUV, were thrown or rolled. Moving into Indiana, the tornado struck near Lake Village at EF2 intensity. It destroyed several farm buildings and swept three mobile homes off their foundations, resulting in two fatalities. In southern Lake Village, the storm inflicted high-end EF2 damage to a triplex, destroyed a bank’s drive-through canopy, and removed the roof of a Family Dollar. The tornado maintained EF0–EF1 intensity as it crossed SR 10 and SR 55, passing just south of Thayer. It finally crossed into Jasper County, causing minor damage in Forest City before dissipating near North 1100 West Road. The storm damaged nearly 500 buildings and destroyed 30 homes in Kankakee County. In Newton County, 106 buildings were impacted, with 32 destroyed. The severity of the event prompted site visits from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Indiana Governor Mike Braun. NWS Chicago, news sources