The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood Monday, and according to historical records, the twister is an extremely rare event within city limits.
According to records examined by NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Paul Deanno, Monday’s tornado was just the sixth to touch down within Chicago city limits in the last 70 years.
Before Monday, the most recent tornado to touch down in the city occurred in 2006, when a twister touched down near Loyola University’s Hyde Park campus.
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The strongest tornado to strike Chicago over the last 70 years occurred in 1967, when an EF-4 tornado roared through the city. The twister moved across Chicago’s South Side, crossing the Dan Ryan Expressway and hammering areas along Lake Michigan near 79th Street.
According to research, nearly 60 people died in the severe weather of that fateful April day.
Fortunately, no injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of Monday’s Rogers Park tornado. Peak wind speeds reached 110 miles per hour during the twister, which touched down just before 4 p.m. The tornado traveled for approximately three miles before moving out over Lake Michigan, with a maximum width of 300 yards.
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It was one of several tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service, with another twister confirmed in Lake County. The tornadoes, along with vicious straight-line winds, caused extensive damage to trees and property throughout the area as a derecho swept through the region, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of residents.
