Tornado reported in DuPage County as storms barrel through Chicago area

Severe weather forces evacuation of Windy City Smokeout

Emily Wahls and Anthony Ponce have your Chicago weather update.

CHICAGO - A tornado was reported on the ground in DuPage County as severe weather made its way through the Chicago area Friday night.

The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down briefly in suburban Wheaton around 9 p.m.

Tornado reported on the ground in DuPage County

Emily Wahls and Mark Strehl have your Chicago weather update.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning had been issued for several counties, including: Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, Kendall, DeKalb, and LaSalle.

Additionally, a ground stop was issued at O'Hare and Midway airports due to the severe weather.

The National Weather Service warned earlier in the day that strong to potentially severe storms were again possible for the Chicago area into Saturday morning.

The severe threat for these storms was a level 2 out of 5, according to the NWS. The main threats included damaging winds and hail, and tornadoes could not be ruled out.

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NWS says heavy downpours could also cause street flooding across Chicagoland.

Northwest Indiana also faced the threat of these storms, which were forecast to make their way into the Chicago area between 8 p.m. and 12 a.m., according to FOX 32's chief meteorologist Emily Wahls.

Wind gusts could get up to 70 mph, and hail up to an inch or inch-and-a-half was possible.

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Earlier this week, a tornado outbreak that swept the Chicago area produced at least 11 twisters, and preliminary findings show they were relatively weak.

No injuries were reported when Wednesday’s storms ripped roofs from buildings and toppled trees in the Chicago area and points west. One tornado touched down near O’Hare International Airport, sending passengers dashing for shelter and disrupting hundreds of flights.

Weather service staff who surveyed the storm damage tracks have confirmed that at least 11 tornadoes touched down Wednesday evening, the NWS said. The agency said it would continue investigating the outbreak over the next few days.

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The 11 twisters were spawned by rotating thunderstorms known as supercells, the weather service said.

Eight of the confirmed tornadoes had preliminary ratings of EF-0, which produce winds of 65-85 mph, while the three others had preliminary ratings of EF-1, which have winds of 86-110 mph.

Over the years, many tornadoes have struck the Chicago area, and several have hit within the limits of the nation’s third-largest city, the NWS said.

Storm damage is seen near Wolf Road and 72nd Street in the village of Indian Head Park, Illinois, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

An outbreak this spring produced 22 tornadoes in Chicago’s expansive metro area, tying the record for the most in the region in a single calendar day, or a 24-hour span, the weather service said. The 22-tornado record was previously set during a June 30, 2014, outbreak.

The weather service’s tornado records for the Chicago area date to 1950.

Associated Press and Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.