This year will likely be a record year for tornadoes in Illinois, but the financial impact of severe storms that pounded the state Wednesday and Thursday may not be known for months.

The National Weather Service confirmed at least 20 tornadoes in Illinois last week.

Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford of the Illinois State Water Survey and Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign said the state’s 130 tornadoes confirmed this year, before the events of last Wednesday and Thursday, ranked third all time.

“It is very possible, if not likely, that these events pushed us to the top of that list,” Ford told The Center Square.

Ford said Illinois has had 147 tornadoes reported but not necessarily confirmed this year, while neighboring Indiana has had 37.

As teams continued damage assessments on Monday, Ford said the economic impact might not be known for weeks or months.

Ford said the location where a storm hits will often have more economic impact than its severity.

“Obviously, a tornado moving through corn that has emerged or soybeans that have emerged causes impact, but from an economic standpoint, it is pretty limited,” Ford said.

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