Severe storms bring tornadoes, hail to Chicago area and beyond as cold front pounds through
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Severe and dangerous storms brought tornadoes and hail to Chicago area Tuesday evening and knocked down trees and light poles as a cold front moved in.
A tornado watch was in effect for most of the evening for all Illinois counties in the CBS 2 viewing area – and Lake, Porter, Jasper, and Newton counties in Indiana. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for LaPorte County, Indiana until 4 a.m. Wednesday.
The National Weather Service said on X, the former Twitter, that a tornado watch was issued for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio until 6 a.m. EST.
In Michigan, the Grand Blanc Township Fire Department said what it called a tornado hit the area at about 1:20 a.m local time, leaving much of the vicinity without power, according to Consumers Energy, the local utility. No death or injuries were reported but at least one structure suffered severe damage.
Tornado warnings popped off one by one through the evening and night in the Chicago area as the storm moved to the east. While the tornadoes all still need to be confirmed by the National Weather Service, there were 10 different reports of tornadoes in Illinois and Indiana Tuesday night.
The first was in LaSalle County and eastern Lee County – just to the west of DeKalb, with a tornado being spotted over Paw Paw, Illinois, in Lee County.
Another tornado was later also reported on the ground about 2 miles north-northeast of Waterman. There was also a report of a confirmed tornado between Little Rock and Big Rock, Illinois – and rotation just east of Elgin.
The tornado warnings halted several Metra trains in the western suburbs Tuesday evening. Ground stops were put into place for O'Hare and Midway international airports.
Video from inside O'Hare shows passengers sheltering away from windows as the tornado warning blared over the PA system. The famous tunnel in Terminal 1 – which features Michael Hayden's "The Sky's the Limit" kinetic neon sculpture and connects United Airlines concourses B and C - was also used for safety.
By 10 p.m., more than 30 flights at O'Hare had been canceled, and delays were running at about 20 minutes.
Trees, light poles knocked down om western suburban college campus
At Waubonsee Community College in west suburban Sugar Grove, students and employees were sent into shelter mode due to strong winds and a tornado warning.
On campus, a light pole and numerous tree branches were ripped down, and evergreens were uprooted. Heavy branches crashed down onto vehicles – one student in a red Toyota found her entire car covered.
Thankfully, she was not inside.
When the light pole was ripped from the ground and sent flying across the parking lot, it shifted a parked car. The driver did not want to talk, but she was shocked to see how the force of the winds moved her vehicle.
Those inside the community college building talked about how they went into shelter mode for over an hour.
"I was just cleaning the hallway, and then the loud intercom came over at science - telling us to go hide in any safe places, like in the bathrooms, or in a classroom with no from windows," said Waubonsee Community College worker Ramon Mancilla.
"Out of nowhere, this loud alarm goes off and they're asking us to shelter in place - and we go over to Room 130 - a room with no windows," said Waubonsee student Andres Rojas, "and then we all, like the whole science department – like the whole science building – just packed into that room"
"I'm not going to lie - it was pretty unnerving at first - hearing the rain hit the windows really hard like nearby, and the sirens going off in the background," continued Mancilla. "I was little nervous, but I felt like I was pretty safe where I was."
Kane County Undersheriff Amy Johnson said there were numerous reports of damage, but no reports of injuries.
The storms also brought dangerous hail the size of ping-pong balls in some places – and 60 mph winds. Large, damaging hail was seen many areas as the storm system hit.
Damage and worry was seen in plenty of other places too.
In Inverness, a huge branch came down on Ela Road just south of Palatine Road. There were no reports of damage from that situation, but it caused problems for anyone traveling on that dark road.
In Wilmette, air-raid sirens blared ahead of the storm moving through the North Shore. The same happened in numerous other suburbs.
A powerful mix of rain and hail pounded parts of south suburban Oak Forest.
"I'm worried about my car," said Stephen Weaver, whose car was hit by hail in Oak Forest. "Maybe I might just have to file a claim."
In Hoffman Estates, video showed a tree taken down by strong winds.
In Mundelein, an apartment building collapsed Tuesday night. There appeared to be roof damage and a collapsed wall, but there was no word on injuries. It was not immediately learned if this incident was weather-related.
The return of bitter winter weather
A wind advisory is also in place for all of northern Illinois from 9 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday.
A powerful cold front clashed with the warm air that has made it feel like June in Chicago.
Earlier Tuesday, the Chicago area made it officially to 74 degrees at O'Hare International Airport – and the high in McHenry was 77. But when the cold front plows through, Chicago will be on the cold side, with highs at the freezing mark.
The cold front dropped the temperature to 6 degrees in Fargo, North Dakota, Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday morning, the wind chill will make it feel like 14 in the Loop and at Midway International Airport, 12 in Waukegan, and 1 degree in McHenry, as the Chicago area goes from spring back to January in a matter of hours.