National Weather Service assess damage of tornados across Chicago area
CHICAGO (CBS) – There were at least seven confirmed tornados on Wednesday in the Chicago area.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service dispatched crews to survey the damage left behind from the dangerous winds, like in one path through a field in Elgin, to figure out just how severe those storms were.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza was in Streamwood where she caught up with one of those crews.
The NWS was looking into the damage like branches fallen, homes damaged and comparing all of it to the debris in previous storms. From there, they can confirm or not it was caused by a tornado.
"It does look like there were tornadoes in the Chicagoland area yesterday," said David King, a meteorologist with the NWS.
The NWS crew in Streamwood was just one assessing what the storms left behind.
"You're humbled. You kind of remember the forces of nature, and just how much control they really have. So it's humbling. It's disheartening, but you also see the spirit of Chicago and the resolve that the people have," said King.
The weather service confirmed multiple tornados touched down with winds upwards of 85 mph. There was still more debris to see on Thursday.
"If the tornado actually occurred, where was the start of it?" King said explaining what questions the NWS had. "Where did it end? Where was the highest magnitude of damage? How far away from that track did it actually have? So we can confine and develop what kind of a track actually formed."
CBS 2 followed along as the crew retraced the winds to backtrack and see how strong they really were.
The crews interviewed witnesses, spoke to first responders, and photographed split branches. Once they gather all that information, they can look to issue a rating.
"It's one thing to see a storm on radar," King said. "It's another thing to actually know what the impacts were after the fact."
There was still more to evaluate for the NWS on Thursday. It's work that could possibly take days.