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EF0 tornado in Cook County, Illinois

Tornado July 15, 2024 · Cook County, Illinois

EF0
Rating
5.7 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 85 mph touched down near Harlem Avenue and 135th Street and moved nearly due east, paralleling 135th Street. Numerous tree limbs were blown down along trails in a forest preserve south of 135th Street. Significant tree damage occurred near 135th Street and Central Avenue. Minor roof damage to a home and a large uprooted tree occurred near Laramie Avenue. Tree damage occurred during the rest of the path of the tornado, which crossed Interstate 294 and then ended near Mozart Street and 135th Street.

The wider storm

A derecho moved across northern Illinois during the evening of July 15th producing widespread wind damage and 30 tornadoes in northeast Illinois. One of these tornadoes crossed into northwest Indiana. At the height of the storms, 430,000 customers lost power with some power not restored for four days, on July 19th.

Began near Palos Heights (41.6438, -87.8004).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

25 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1194280. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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