Thunderstorm Wind — De Kalb, Illinois

2025-05-15 · near Dekalb, De Kalb, Illinois

Event narrative

Several photos relayed on social media showed tree damage in and around DeKalb. A one foot diameter tree was snapped midway up the trunk. Live web cameras at the time the storm moved through showed considerable blowing dust as well as several gustnadoes.

Wider weather episode

Severe thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois during the afternoon and evening of May 15th producing large hail including very large hail. Widespread wind damage was also reported. In the city of Chicago, at least 2200 trees were blown down.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.9300, -88.7700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1250656. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.