Two tornadoes touched down in the Chicago area on Monday as a storm system swept through northeastern Illinois.
One tornado was reported in a far western area of Joliet and the other on the far north side of Naperville, according to the National Weather Service. Both were “brief” events and were classified as EF-0 tornadoes.
The Joliet tornado had estimated peak winds of 85 mph and began near Courtwright Drive and Kendall Ridge Boulevard. The twister ended near Caton Farm Road and Hastings Drive. The other tornado had peak winds of around 80 mph and first touched down near Naperville North High School.
Both tornadoes were on the ground for a couple of minutes.
NWS meteorologist Matt Friedlin said there have been reports of damage to trees, windows, fences and roofs but no major structural damage.
“That points towards likely that these were lower-end strength, short-lived tornadoes,” Friedlin said.
The weather service also confirmed that another tornado touched down in Ford County near Champaign. It didn’t cause any known damage.
Tornadoes are fairly rare this time of year. Since 1950, only eight prior tornadoes have been recorded during the month of February within a 23-county area that includes a large swath of northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, NWS records show.
The twisters were part of a system that brought thunder, lightning, rain and wind gusts to the southwest and south suburbs. The weather service had issued a storm alert for those areas that went into effect at 7 a.m.
By 1 p.m., the threat of severe weather had ended, according to the weather service. But wind gusts as high as 40 mph will persist throughout the evening Monday.
It will be drier and a little cooler Tuesday, Election Day in Chicago, with temperatures reaching the mid-40s. But a system moving into the area later this week could bring rain and snow by Friday.
(1/3) We have preliminarily confirmed 3 brief tornadoes from Monday morning based on reports from Emergency Management, broadcast media, & trained storm spotters. We continue to look into other areas of interest.
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) February 28, 2023
Statement: https://t.co/bhqmxNo4ry#ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/PusGTfJbrm
Contributing: Daily Herald
