Illinois Quick Hits: 178 Illinois tornadoes so far in 2026

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – According to preliminary quality controlled data from the National Weather Service, Illinois has had more than twice as many tornadoes as any other U.S. state in 2026.

As of July 1, 178 tornadoes have been recorded in Illinois this year. Mississippi is second with 81, followed by Indiana with 76, Missouri with 72 and Iowa with 71.

COMED ASKS CUSTOMERS TO REDUCE ENERGY USE

ComEd asked its customers to reduce energy use on Wednesday due to what the utility called “an isolated incident” impacting parts of Chicago and the city’s western suburbs.

ComEd did not report any outages but said in a social media post that the grid was “under critical strain.”

The 2025 Resource Adequacy Study released last December by three state agencies said grid operators PJM and MISO are expected to face capacity shortfalls unless new capacity and resources are developed.

CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT TO RETIRE

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling has announced that he will retire on July 15.

Snelling has served more than 30 years in the city’s department, including the last three years as superintendent.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Fred Waller would serve as interim superintendent while the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability begins the search process.

ALLEGED CRIMINAL HACKER EXTRADITED TO U.S.

An alleged member of the criminal cyber hacking group Scattered Spider has been arrested in Finland and extradited to the United States to face federal criminal conspiracy charges in the Northern District of Illinois.

U.S. government attorneys say 19-year-old Peter Stokes, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Estonia, is accused of breaching a jewelry retailer’s computer system, making a ransom demand and causing the retailer to lose at least $2 million due to business disruption, investigation and mitigation of the threat.

MATTOON LAKE REMAINS IDENTIFIED

Authorities have identified a man’s remains that were found in Lake Mattoon last Sunday evening.

Illinois State Police identified Dalewayne Turner, 38, of Plainfield, Illinois as the victim but said there is no threat to the public.