For the second day in a row, severe weather has targeted Chicago amid a broader storm forecast affecting the Midwest. On Thursday, tornadoes touched down in Illinois as intense storms moved across the region. The National Weather Service issued a brief tornado emergency near Peoria, Illinois, shortly after 5 p.m. local time. This alert is rare and only used for large, potentially destructive tornadoes on the ground.
No immediate reports of widespread damage followed this emergency, which included areas like La Rose, Toluca, and Wenona in Illinois. However, numerous tornado warnings were issued throughout the region starting early in the afternoon. Reports of strong winds and hail also emerged from states including Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri.
Forecasters warned that tens of millions could experience severe weather impacts on Thursday afternoon and evening, spanning areas from Texas to the East Coast. The greatest risk was near the Great Lakes, particularly in the Chicago area, which meteorologists noted was more severe late Thursday morning.
The storms, which produced tornadoes, strong winds, heavy rain, and hail, did not result in widespread damage reports. However, over 200,000 homes and businesses were without power by early afternoon. These outages followed previous severe weather from Wednesday night, as tracked by Poweroutage.com.
Thunderstorms affecting areas from Texas to New England have been fueled by a large mass of warm and moist air hovering over the region.
Judson Jones, a meteorologist and reporter for The New York Times, covers extreme weather events.
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