Tornado rips through Illinois as severe storms sweep Midwest - VIDEO

Tornadoes were reported across parts of Illinois and Wisconsin on Wednesday evening as powerful storms swept through the Midwest, bringing heavy rainfall, large hail, and destructive winds that downed trees and power lines, News.Az reports, citing The New York Times.

Severe weather threats were expected to persist through the evening for millions of residents from Kansas to Ohio, including major cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis.

The highest risk zone stretched across eastern Missouri, central Illinois, and western Indiana, where tornado watches remained in effect.

More urgent tornado warnings were issued throughout the region, including several classified by the National Weather Service as a “particularly dangerous situation,” a rare designation reserved for exceptionally hazardous tornado conditions.

One tornado struck Charleston, Illinois, around 7 p.m., causing damage to buildings and significant tree destruction that blocked roads, according to local media reports.

In Teutopolis, Illinois, located southwest of Charleston, farmer Don Zerrusen said he took shelter in his basement as the tornado passed through the area. He noted that his farm avoided major damage.

“During the day, you pick up everything and put it inside. But I wasn’t expecting a tornado,” Zerrusen said.

The National Weather Service said a tornado watch would remain in effect for eight counties in east-central and southeastern Illinois until midnight.

Andrew Lyons, a meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center, said there was a high likelihood that long-lasting and highly organized supercell thunderstorms would continue developing, bringing an elevated tornado risk into the evening. The storms were forming across Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin and were expected to move into Indiana later in the day.

Although tornadoes posed a serious threat, Lyons said widespread damaging winds were an even greater concern, with gusts potentially exceeding 75 miles per hour.

Strong winds had already impacted parts of Iowa and Illinois during the early morning hours. Before midday, more than 25 preliminary reports documented damage to trees and power lines across the region. The Storm Prediction Center reported that wind gusts exceeding 80 miles per hour had been recorded before sunrise, including a 94-mile-per-hour gust in Marshall County, Iowa.

The storms affected some of the same areas that experienced severe weather outbreaks last week. On June 10, a line of thunderstorms generated a derecho — a powerful straight-line wind event capable of causing destruction comparable to a tornado. Wind gusts reaching 85 miles per hour resulted in widespread damage across northern Illinois.

The following day brought additional storms and at least 20 confirmed tornadoes across the region. Two of those tornadoes, one in Streator, Illinois, and another in Hebron, Indiana, received an EF3 rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale. A storm also toppled what is believed to have been the last surviving “witness tree” at Abraham Lincoln’s former home in Springfield, Illinois.

Forecasters expect the severe weather threat in the Midwest to diminish relatively quickly. By Thursday, unsettled weather could spread into parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. However, meteorologist Jared Guyer of the Storm Prediction Center said conditions were not expected to reach outbreak levels, although some severe storms remain possible.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev