A powerful and deadly derecho blasted across the Midwest on Monday with hurricane-force wind gusts that uprooted trees, ripped roofs from buildings and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of utility customers.
CHICAGO – A deadly and destructive derecho blasted across the Midwest on Monday packing hurricane-force wind gusts and tornadoes that caused extensive damage to communities along a nearly 500-mile-long path extending from Iowa to Indiana, including the Chicago metro.
The powerful winds uprooted trees, snapped utility poles and ripped the roofs from buildings as they made their way across the Midwest. And, according to a report from FOX 32 in Chicago, an Indiana resident was killed when a tree fell onto their home in Cedar Lake when the storms rolled through.
A video recorded by FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray shows Chicago being blasted by damaging wind gusts and torrential rain as a powerful and deadly derecho swept across the Midwest on Monday.
And it was a busy night for the National Weather Service office in Chicago. Forecasters there issued 16 Tornado Warnings on Monday as tornado sirens wailed in the city for the second straight day. Those 16 warnings are now the third most tornado warnings issued in one day for the office.
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The storms also knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of utility customers across the region, with Illinois seeing the highest number of outages. At the peak, nearly 400,000 power outages were reported.
The initial storms formed across central Iowa after 3 p.m. CT, and the first Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued shortly after due to 70 mph wind gusts and golf ball-sized hail.
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The storms continued to roll across the region, eventually forming into a squall line that extended from central Iowa to the Iowa-Wisconsin-Illinois state line, and the derecho then hit its peak intensity between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. as it blasted across northern and central Illinois.
Powerful winds were reported, including a 101 mph wind gust at Davis Junction, Illinois, and a 105 mph wind gust at Camp Grove, Illinois.
Tornado Warnings issued in Chicago
A video recorded in the West Town neighborhood in Chicago shows damage left behind after a powerful and deadly derecho blasted across the Midwest on Monday.
The storms began to impact the Chicago area around 9 p.m. when radar confirmed Tornado Warnings were issued for the western suburbs of Aurora, Oswego, Du Page and Naperville.
By 9:30 p.m. all of Chicago was placed under a Tornado Warning, with observers at Chicago’s Midway Airport reporting two tornadoes and another tornado sighted at O’Hare Airport.
“We are seeing power flashes on both the O’Hare and Midway Airport webcams due to likely tornadoes and/or destructive wind gusts near those areas,” the National Weather Service office in Chicago said on X, formerly Twitter. “Continue to take these warnings seriously.”
Those forecasters eventually needed to seek shelter during the Tornado Warnings.
(FOX Weather)
A peak wind gust of 75 mph was reported at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and all of Chicago was placed under a Tornado Warning just before 10 p.m. CT because radar was picking up so much spin within the storms that it was too difficult to identify each one.
The NWS said it may conduct damage surveys in nearly 30 different locations to determine whether tornadoes caused the damage.
That damage included reports of a partial garage collapse in the Broadview neighborhood of Chicago, and a roof that was blown off a home in Crestwood.