Illinois is ... (Chicago, Peoria, Bloomington: to live in, rankings, deal)

[Avengerfire]

Actually the Sears Tower is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The tallest "structure" in the Western Hemisphere however goes to the CN Tower in Toronto.

[linicx]

I read several sources that state Chicago as having the tallest skyscraper in America. As far back as I can remember, the tall buildings were called Big Buck, Big John and Big Stan.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by Orwelleaut

Illinois is peaceful, yet robust, little villages with "Heilman's Old Style" signs on the taverns, and miles of deep black prairie soil in every direction.

Illinois is little villages with cheese factories and residents who have Wisconsin accents with rounded "o" sounds, tucked away in the rolling hills amongst the dairy farms.

Illinois is a town with hills that rival Pittsburgh where residents once mined lead for a living.

Illinois is medium-sized cities that are frequently rated as having crime problems and as being bad places to live, but that are actually quite decent compared to cities in other states.

Illinois gets a bum rap about farms from folks who travel frequently through the state on I-55. They don't "get" that Illinois is farming state with almost 80,000 farming families.

I recently read in some survey that Peoria is ranked nationally as #51 of the 300 best cities to live in. I wish now I had the URL. I almost dropped my coffee cup when I read it.

[SJaye]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Then you should know that IL's tornado frequency and overall potency is VERY small compared to TX, OK, KS, etc. Like I said, dont complain about our weather because there is always somewhere that has it much worse.

Although Illinois tornado frequency is small compared to Oklahoma, parts of Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska, it is still quite high for worldwide standards. There is no place in the world with a greater number of tornadoes per year than the US. The frequency of tornadoes in Illinois is nowhere near negligible or insignificant.

Originally Posted by linicx

I Peoria has very few twisters compared to B-N and Springfield. I watched the twister that hit Peoria in the 60s.

Maybe Peoria just happened to not get hit by a tornado since the 1960s, but the likelihood of a tornado does not vary too much in that short of a spatial scale in the absence of mountains or bodies of water. Peoria's tornado likelihoods are probably almost exactly the same as Bloomington/Normal's.

Originally Posted by linicx

OK twisters normally spawn in Texas. The cross the river and hit OKC and then Tulsa. Once they get close to the MO border they may turn north or drop south on continue along 1-44.

Tornadoes do not last that long. The May 3, 1999 tornado to hit Moore, OK (F5) originated near Chickasha, OK, and that was one of the longer lasting individual tornadoes. If there are tornadoes in OK, TX, MO, in the same day it is because multiple tornadoes spawned from the same synoptic storm. Additionally, within tornado alley, there is no specific preferred genesis point for a tornado, with the possible exception of the region near Sterling, CO where they form as a result of the "Denver Cyclone" due to the topography/ Palmer Divide.


Sorry longwinded- but I studied this stuff

[At1WithNature]

Tennessee actualy has the most deadly tornadoes and the most tornadoes that strike between 12 and 6 am. The two statistics go hand in hand. A common misconception is that Oklahoma or Kansas would have the most deadly tornadoes but a lot of their twisters occur in the afternoon and evening hours when people are still awake with their television sets on. So, they have time to prepare for them unlike their Tennesseean counterparts who are often sound asleep when their F3's and F4's strike in the middle of the night.

[linicx]

Here's my post on Ok tornadoes for 133 years

//www.city-data.com/forum/oklah...ap-county.html

[ABiologyTeacher]

You forgot surprisingly humid.

[ABiologyTeacher]

Originally Posted by linicx

I recently read in some survey that Peoria is ranked nationally as #51 of the 300 best cities to live in. I wish now I had the URL. I almost dropped my coffee cup when I read it.

I'm pretty sure BN and Chicago are in the top 100 too.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by ABiologyTeacher

I'm pretty sure BN and Chicago are in the top 100 too.

Actually there were 5 Illinois cities mentioned. Peoria was the only one mentioned that was not in the Chicago area.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by ABiologyTeacher

You forgot surprisingly humid.

Surprisingly humid?

Between the lakes, streams, great rivers and Lake Michigan, Illinois is almost a peninsula.