838 Tornado Warnings Issued Across 68 NWS Offices in 2026 With Chicago Leading All Forecast Offices at 61 Events
UNITED STATES — The National Weather Service has issued a staggering 838 tornado warning events across 68 Weather Forecast Offices from January 1 through April 21, 2026 — and the geographic distribution of those warnings tells a dramatic story about just how dramatically the 2026 severe weather season has shifted toward the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes compared to historical norms.
Chicago NWS Office Leads the Nation With 61 Tornado Warnings
The Chicago Weather Forecast Office leads every NWS office in the country with 61 tornado warning events through April 21 — an extraordinary total for an office that covers northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, areas not traditionally associated with the highest tornado warning counts. Chicago’s 61 warnings reflect the relentless targeting of the Upper Midwest by organized severe weather systems throughout the first four months of 2026.
Upper Midwest Offices Dominate the National Leaderboard
The top tier of NWS offices by tornado warning count is stacked with Upper Midwest and Great Lakes locations. The Minneapolis office issued 49 warnings, Des Moines 47, Quad Cities 35, Omaha 35, Kansas City 32, and Tulsa 32. The Jackson Mississippi office rounds out the upper tier with 41 warnings, representing the strongest showing from a traditional Dixie Alley office in the top counts.
| NWS Forecast Office | 2026 Tornado Warnings |
|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | 61 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 49 |
| Des Moines, IA | 47 |
| Quad Cities, IL/IA | 35 |
| Omaha, NE | 35 |
| Jackson, MS | 41 |
| Kansas City, MO/KS | 32 |
| Tulsa, OK | 32 |
| St. Louis, MO | 26 |
| New Orleans, LA | 27 |
Traditional Tornado Alley Offices Running Well Below Pace
In striking contrast to the dominant Upper Midwest totals, several traditionally high-count Southern Plains and Dixie Alley offices are running at much lower warning numbers through April 21. The pattern shift in 2026 has left Oklahoma, Texas, and much of the Southeast with significantly fewer tornado warnings than historical averages for this point in the spring season — though the active late April pattern now building across the Southern Plains is expected to rapidly change that picture.
838 Total Warnings and the Season Is Far From Over
With 838 tornado warning events already logged through April 21 and the peak of severe weather season — May — still ahead, 2026 is on pace for a historically active tornado warning year nationally. The geographic concentration of warnings in the Upper Midwest is one of the most striking anomalies in recent memory, and the rapid acceleration of warning activity now expected across the Southern Plains and Deep South through late April and May will only add to an already remarkable annual total.
Stay with CabarrusWeekly.com for continuing tornado warning tally and severe weather season tracking across the United States through May.
