* 6/16/24 - WTTW - Even the National Weather Service Had to Take Cover During Monday’s Wild Storms, Number of Tornadoes Still Being Tallied + Weather Service Confirms Tornado Hit West Loop Monday Night, Damage Assessment Continues
Buzz Sawyer
from first article:
As of Tuesday morning, ComEd reported nearly 200,000 customers affected by outages.
The utility said 80% of outages would be resolved by Wednesday and the remainder
by Friday, based on past experience with similar weather events.
In Chicago, the Department of Streets and Sanitation’s forestry crews have been responding
to nearly 2,400 emergency calls of downed trees and fallen limbs since Sunday....................
Even the National Weather Service Had to
Take Cover During Monday’s Wild Storms,
Number of Tornadoes Still Being Tallied
(Chicago 311 / X)
The line of powerful storms that whipped through the Chicago region Monday night sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for shelter, including staff in the National Weather Service’s Chicago office.
The team, which was sending out alerts and warnings on social media, had to temporarily pass off duties to a forecast office in Michigan as tornado reports hit close to home.
Multiple tornado warnings were issued throughout the region, and the weather service has dispatched six damage survey teams to confirm how many tornadoes actually touched down Monday. Those teams are investigating 29 damage tracks in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, the weather service reported Tuesday, and due to the large coverage area, it will likely take multiple days to complete their assessments.
High winds, including a gust of 75 miles per hour, were recorded at O’Hare International Airport, bringing trees crashing down and disrupting power.
As of Tuesday morning, ComEd reported nearly 200,000 customers affected by outages. The utility said 80% of outages would be resolved by Wednesday and the remainder by Friday, based on past experience with similar weather events.
In Chicago, the Department of Streets and Sanitation’s forestry crews have been responding to nearly 2,400 emergency calls of downed trees and fallen limbs since Sunday. It’s unknown how many more trees may have sustained lesser damage. The department is asking Chicagoans to report fallen trees and debris to 311.
Close to 100 flights were canceled at O’Hare on Tuesday, but many passengers questioned why they were boarded onto flights Monday night as the powerful storm system approached — and then left on planes as the worst of the storm hit.
According to a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Aviation, on Monday night both O’Hare and Midway airports promptly implemented their standard safety plans for tornado warnings, requiring all passengers and personnel to move away from windows and into any available underground locations.
As for decisions around aircraft movement and passengers onboard planes, the department pointed WTTW News to the Federal Aviation Administration for comment.
When reached and asked about passengers being boarded onto planes as tornadoes approached, the FAA told WTTW News to contact the Chicago Department of Aviation and individual airlines.
WTTW News sent requests for comment to United Airlines and American Airlines, but did not receive an immediate response.
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | pwe...@wttw.com
Weather Service Confirms Tornado Hit West Loop Monday Night, Damage Assessment Continues
Tree damage in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood following strong storms, July 16, 2024. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
The National Weather Service has so far confirmed three tornadoes hit Chicago between Sunday and Monday — including one that took aim at the Loop — once again disproving the myth that the city’s skyscrapers somehow make it immune to twisters.
Two tornadoes struck the city’s South Side on Sunday, according to the weather service:
— An EF-0 tornado, with an estimated wind peak of 80 miles per hour, tore a path from Midway to Bronzeville that was 9.6 miles long and 300 yards wide.
— An EF-0 tornado ripped through a 3.6-mile path from Englewood to Jackson Park, also with an estimated wind peak of 80 miles per hour.
Tornadoes rated EF-0 reach wind speeds of 65 to 85 miles per hour and inflict “light” damage, capable of peeling the surface off some roofs, breaking branches off trees and pushing over shallow-rooted trees.
Of the nearly 30 damage tracks the weather service is investigating from Monday’s storm system, five tornadoes have been confirmed.
These include an EF-1 tornado — which have winds of 86 to 110 miles per hour — on the Near West Side of Chicago extending into the West Loop.
A track map shows the twister following a line along I-290 beginning at roughly Sacramento Avenue on the west and moving east, jumping from the south to the north side of the Eisenhower Expressway near Ashland Avenue, crossing the Kennedy Expressway, and stopping just short of the Chicago River, roughly splitting the distance between Union Station and the Oglivie Transportation Center.
The tornado reached estimated peak winds of 95 miles per hour and traveled for three miles, according to the weather service.
EF-1 tornadoes can strip roofs, break windows, and overturn or badly damage mobile homes.