Severe storms pass through the Midwest, and the Northeast could be next

 

Severe storms pass through the Midwest, and the Northeast could be next

AccuWeather forecasters say atmospheric components are ready for intense, intense storms to move across much of the Midwest, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast to finish the weekend and into Monday. A powerful storm system swirling across the Midwest on Saturday began to unleash dangerous effects.

The first severe storms of the weekend formed early Saturday morning and continued to affect the greater Chicago area. Several severe thunderstorm warnings were sent across the region as devastating storms swept through dawn on Saturday. Hurricane warnings were also issued on Saturday morning.

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Chicago had to take cover Saturday morning as a hurricane-producing storm approached their southwest Chicago office. The NWS later confirmed that a tornado had indeed formed and caused damage in southern Naperville, Illinois. Saturday night, survey teams gave the tornado a preliminary rating of EF0 with a maximum wind speed of 80 mph.

An additional tornado came to life on Saturday, south of the first. The NWS has confirmed an EF0 tornado with maximum winds of 70 mph tracking from Crest Hill to Joliet, Illinois. After roaring in suburban Chicago, severe thunderstorms continued to follow south and east Saturday morning and hit parts of central Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

This storm area was responsible for hundreds of reports of wind damage sent to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) on Saturday, which stretched from Indiana to West Virginia. Reports of damage ranged from tree limbs in places to broken electricity poles. More than 130,000 customers were without power on Saturday afternoon, and as of early Sunday morning, more than 66,000 customers remained without power across those states, according to PowerOutage.us.