High Wind — Northern Cook County, Illinois

2021-12-16 · Northern Cook County, Illinois

Wider weather episode

High winds developed across northern Illinois during the evening of December 15th and continued into the early morning of December 16th. Wind gusts were frequently between 50 and 55 mph. Peak wind gusts included 69 mph in Sugar Grove in Kane County; 66 mph near Herbert in McHenry County; 67 mph at Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling; 66 mph at Chicago O'Hare Airport; 63 mph in Waukegan; 62 mph at the Rockford Airport; 61 mph at Chicago Midway Airport; 61 mph at West Chicago in DuPage County; 61 mph near Marengo in McHenry County; 60 mph near Dixon in Lee County; 58 mph near Crystal Lake in McHenry County and 58 mph at the National Weather Service office in Romeoville in Will County.

Wind damage included, in LaSalle County, a tree was blown down on North 39th Road, east of Triumph and a large tree limb over one foot in diameter fell onto an apartment building on Grant Avenue in LaSalle. In Kane County, a 15 foot tall evergreen was uprooted and leaning on power lines across from the Batavia High School. In DuPage County, power lines were blown down blocking 63rd Street in Downers Grove and multiple utility poles and power lines were blown down east of Wayne. In McHenry County, a medium size pine tree was blown down in Johnsburg. In Northern Cook County, a large tree was blown down onto a house in Skokie; Half of a large tree was blown down in Wilmette; A large tree was blown down on a car in Streamwood; Several tree limbs were blown down in Morton Grove; A tree was blown down near the intersection of Golf and Harms Road near Golf and eastbound Higgins Road was closed between Plum Grove Road and National Parkway due to downed power lines near Schaumburg. In Chicago, a large tree fell onto multiple cars in Uptown and another large tree fell onto a car on Argyle Street near Jefferson Park. In Lake County, trees were uprooted in Libertyville, Fox Lake and Highland Park.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 995869. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.