Through the hours of April 27, 2011, a total of 175 tornadoes touched down in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. One of the deadliest tornadoes happened in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. At 5:13 pm local time, a deadly, multi-vortex tornado rated as EF4 entered the city limits of Tuscaloosa. Because of how deadly the tornado was, and given that Tuscaloosa was highly populated, the National Weather Service declared a Tornado Emergency.
There are two distinct tornado alleys in the US. The traditional, well-known Tornado Alley is in the Central Plains and Midwest, and then there is the not very well-known (but still deadly) Dixie Alley. In Illinois, our tornado season (that is, when we get the most tornadoes) runs between April 1 and June 30. But we can get tornadoes at any time. Take, for example, the August 2020 derecho. A tornado ripped through Oak Forest and Midlothian; it was EF1, which means that it was not very dangerous. According to recent studies conducted by the University of Illinois, the state experiences more tornadoes now than it did 50 years ago. Although we have been reported to get more tornadoes, that does not mean that they are deadly. Out of all 6 tornado ratings on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, Illinois is most likely to get EF0s and EF1s. But that does not mean that we cannot get deadlier tornadoes.