Metra said it stopped some of its trains in the Chicago area Monday due to “tornado warnings” though none were issued—not even a watch.
A spokesperson for the rail agency said by telephone she was attempting to track down why that terminology was being used by the company. She said she didn’t know why the was referring to tornado warnings when no weather service had issued one.
Tweets were still posted by Metra as of 8 p.m. saying there were tornado warnings when none had been issued by a weather service.
An NBC 5 producer who was on one of the trains stopped for the non-existent severe weather alert said there were “lots of upset people on my train.”
Another train was stopped in Elmhurst shortly before 7 p.m. when conductors made announcements and said there was a tornado warning.
A Metra spokesperson did say trains will be stopped for severe weather, including wind gusts of 50 mph or higher.
Multiple area meteorologists were responding to the rail agency on social media, reiterating that there were no tornado warnings issued.
