NWS counts 29 possible tornado tracks in Chicago area Sunday and Monday night
CHICAGO (CBS) — The National Weather Service on Tuesday was investigating 29 potential tornado tracks from the powerful and dangerous storms that hit the area both Sunday and Monday nights.
For Monday night, five individual tornadoes have been confirmed so far.
One of the tornadoes, an EF-1, hit the Near West Side of Chicago and far western portions of the Loop. A tornado ranking at least EF-1 also hit near Channahon, and another EF-1 hit the Bristol and Oswego areas in Kendall County.
An EF-0 tornado, or greater, also caused damage in Justice and Bridgeview, and another at least EF-0 tornado struck in Crown Point, Indiana. Under the Enhanced Fujita Scale, an EF-0 involves 3-second gusts of 65 to 85 mph, while an EF-1 has 3-second gusts of 86 to 110 mph.
The amount of damage caused by each of these tornadoes was not immediately learned. But in Oswego, heavy winds uprooted large trees, which toppled over onto homes and cars. One Oswego resident said she heard a crash that was "like a bomb."
Large trees were uprooted from streets in the West Loop. On Madison Street, some of the toppled trees damaged cars.
Downed trees blocking streets and driveways were also seen in Bridgeview.
The NWS has not yet released specifics on a possible large tornado reported on the ground at O'Hare International Airport Monday night, and another possible tornado at Midway International Airport. A tornado was also reported during the storms in Sugar Grove.
Monday night was the consecutive night of tornadoes in the Chicago area, and also the second consecutive night that tornadoes touched down in the city — a rare phenomenon unto itself. On Sunday night, two tornadoes were confirmed on the city's South Side, and a third in Elburn.
More than 200,000 Chicago area ComEd customers woke up Tuesday morning to power outages caused by the severe storm damage with flooding and downed trees.
A woman was killed after a tree fell on a home during severe storms near Cedar Lake, Indiana, Monday night. According to the Lake County, Indiana Coroner's Office, the victim was identified as 44-year-old Laura Nagel. Her manner of death was listed in connection with the severe storm damage.
6 tornadoes confirmed Sunday
The weather service confirmed six tornadoes, all EF-0s, that happened on Sunday night. These included tornadoes at Midway Airport in Chicago and the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago.
The four others were in LaGrange (Cook County), St. Charles (Kane), Elburn (Kane), and Esmond (Ogle).
The NWS has surveyed the paths of each of the tornadoes on Sunday night:
- At 8:58 p.m. Sunday, a tornado began just southwest of Esmond in DeKalb County and tracked southeast—lifting east of McQueen Road. The tornado damaged trees and crops and destroyed an outbuilding.
- At 9:33 p.m. Sunday, a tornado tracked for 1.4 miles through Elburn and damaged trees and corn crops.
- At 9:44 p.m. Sunday, as strong straight-line winds were blowing into St. Charles, a brief tornado spun up north of Route 38 and east of Peck Road. It damaged a Metro Self Storage Building, damaged a greenhouse and tossed around shopping court corrals at a Meijer, knocked over a light pole, and snapped and uprooted several trees.
- At 10:23 p.m. Sunday, a tornado began in LaGrange and tracked through Brookfield, Riverside, and Berwyn before ending in Cicero. Only trees were damaged.
- At 10:31 p.m. Sunday, a tornado began just west of Midway International Airport and tracked over the airport—where it moved a 737jet plane and slammed it into a jet bridge. The tornado plowed through the Southwest and South Side Chicago neighborhoods of West Elsdon, Gage Park, Back of the Yards, and Fuller Park—causing tree damage and minor roof damage to homes. This tornado then crossed the Dan Ryan Expressway and damaged more trees in Bronzeville and Kenwood, before going out to Lake Michigan.
- At 10:40 p.m. Sunday, a tornado began at Englewood STEM High School, 6835 S. Norman Blvd., and tracked east northeast through the South Side before moving over Lake Michigan in Jackson Park. It mainly caused tree damage over its 3.6-mile track, but it also knocked over a train car and caused some roof damage.
