Chicago Weather

NWS: Eight Tornadoes Touched Down Monday

National Weather Service officials said none of tornadoes were on the ground long

National Weather Service officials on Wednesday confirmed three additional tornadoes struck Illinois and northwest Indiana on Monday night, bringing the total to eight in the area.

According to the NWS, two EF-1 tornadoes about a mile apart struck northwest of Grant Park in Kankakee County around 10:25 p.m., packing peak winds between 100-110 mph. Another EF-1 tornado that created a path 3.4 miles long and 200 yards wide was to the northeast of the same area.

The tornadoes snapped and uprooted healthy trees and caused damage to barns and other buildings.

Those three twisters were in addition to the five tornadoes that were confirmed Tuesday during storms that dumped heavy rain as they swept across the state a day earlier.

A confirmed EF-1 tornado touched down in northwest Romeoville and northeast Plainfield. The tornado left damage consistent with winds of 86-110 mph. A Tornado Warning was issued for the area at about 10 p.m. Monday night.

Another EF-1 tornado touched down in LaSalle County's Earlville, about 80 miles west of Chicago. The tornado also also left damage consistent with winds of 86-110 mph. 

A weather service damage survey confirmed modest tornadoes also landed in rural Kendall County, near Grant Park in Kankakee County and near Morris in Grundy County. The weather service survey found buildings were damaged, and trees and power lines knocked down by the high winds that accompanied the storm.

Officials said none of tornadoes were on the ground long.

Tornadoes were also confirmed southeast of Lowell, Indiana and in and near Demotte, Indiana.

ComEd, which serves most of northern and northeastern Illinois, said about 430,000 power customers were knocked offline. That number dropped to about 21,000 customers by early Thursday morning.

A utility spokesperson said it's hoped that power to all customers would be restored by Thursday.

NIPSCO, a gas and electricity provider for northern Indiana, said power to a total of about 128,000 customers was cut during the storms. All but 32,000 of those customers had service restored by midday Wednesday.

The town of Morris, in Grundy County, appeared to have suffered the worst damage from the storms, with more than 300 trees damaged and extensive power outages.

Calumet City was also hit hard by the storms that created the most damage the city has seen in 30 years. The high winds damaged Phyllis Terrell's home in the middle of the night.

"I thought the roof was coming off the house. When he opened up the door his face was covered in plaster," said of her brother-in-law in the next bedroom.

Warren Brower only lost power in the storm, but his neighbors weren't so lucky.

"You had the rumble, and all of a sudden there was, 'Bang, bang, bang,' and everything was flying all over the place," Brower said.

National Weather Service data released Tuesday morning put Winnetka as the rainfall total winner, with 4.12 inches.

Other rainfall totals throughout the metropolitan area include: Glen Ellyn, with 2.82 inches; Chicago with 2.48 inches; Geneva, with 2.35 inches; Bolingbrook, with 2.24 inches; and Orland Park, with 2.14 inches.

The evening's rain led to problems with flash flooding. Viaducts were flooded at the all of the exits along the northern portion of Lake Shore Drive, including Irving, Montrose, Lawrence and Wilson.

To deal with the deluge, water management officials were forced to open locks in Chicago and Wilmette. That release of waste water into Lake Michigan prompted the Chicago Park District to put a swimming ban into effect at all of Chicago's public beaches on Tuesday. Current beach information is always available at CPDBeaches.com.

The Village of Romeoville opened an Emergency Operations Command Center to deal with extensive flooding, downed trees and power lines.

Lightning is believed to be the cause of a fire at an apartment building at 15727 Peggy Lane in Oak Forest and another attic fire at a home in the 3600 block of Schillinger Court in Naperville.

High winds downed trees in River Forest, damaging homes in at least on neighborhood.

The storms also affected air travel Monday night.

O'Hare International Airport lifted a ground stop for incoming flights at about 7:45 p.m. but lengthy delays were still reported. More than 250 flights were been canceled as of 4:30 p.m.

At Midway International Airport, all arriving flights on Southwest Airlines were canceled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and lengthy delays were reported for incoming and outgoing flights.

The Chicago Fire Department at 4 p.m. Monday issued an alert for all boaters to seek harbor.

A Tornado Watch was issued late Sunday night for several counties, and the National Weather Service reported a funnel cloud at about 2:15 a.m. in Crystal Lake but there was no confirmation of a touchdown.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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