Hoosier Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 If we got a Tuscaloosa type tornado that took the track of the one that starts near I-80 west of Joliet and goes all the way northeast to the lake...I can't even think of words to describe that. That one on the map is from 3/28/1920. I think it killed about 20 people but there's some question about whether it was on the ground the whole time (may have been a gap in/near eastern Dupage county). Anything like that is a scary thought but pretty much inevitable if we wait long enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 That one on the map is from 3/28/1920. I think it killed about 20 people but there's some question about whether it was on the ground the whole time (may have been a gap in/near eastern Dupage county). Anything like that is a scary thought but pretty much inevitable if we wait long enough. That F4, the downtown Chicago F3 and Rockford F4 are the ones I find most interesting during the pre-1950 period. You could probably add the long track IA/IL tor to that list too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 That one on the map is from 3/28/1920. I think it killed about 20 people but there's some question about whether it was on the ground the whole time (may have been a gap in/near eastern Dupage county). Anything like that is a scary thought but pretty much inevitable if we wait long enough. Went through Melrose Park, I believe? Palm Sunday (no matter what day it's set on) just seems to be a bad day for tornadoes in general... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 That F4, the downtown Chicago F3 and Rockford F4 are the ones I find most interesting during the pre-1950 period. You could probably add the long track IA/IL tor to that list too. The downtown Chicago one was supposedly a multi-vortex tornado (I believe this exact terminology was even used in the newspaper account). Chicago was a lot smaller when it hit but still had like 400,000 people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersnow12 Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 That one on the map is from 3/28/1920. I think it killed about 20 people but there's some question about whether it was on the ground the whole time (may have been a gap in/near eastern Dupage county). Anything like that is a scary thought but pretty much inevitable if we wait long enough. Very true. It's been 21 years...and its going to happen. And the sad fact is that some people are not ready for it, but being ready on can go so far. If you are stuck in traffic at 5pm on a major highway and a half mile wide or greater comes at you, there isn't much you can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Went through Melrose Park, I believe? Palm Sunday (no matter what day it's set on) just seems to be a bad day for tornadoes in general... Yep. There's been 4 or 5 bad outbreaks on Palm Sunday, no doubt helped by the fact that it falls at an active time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Very true. It's been 21 years...and its going to happen. And the sad fact is that some people are not ready for it, but being ready on can go so far. If you are stuck in traffic at 5pm on a major highway and a half mile wide or greater comes at you, there isn't much you can do. It seems almost everyone focuses on Dallas as the major tornado disaster of the future, when they forget that the nation's third largest city is in pretty primed tornadic territory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 It seems almost everyone focuses on Dallas as the major tornado disaster of the future, when they forget that the nation's third largest city is in pretty primed tornadic territory... Dallas is probably more statistically likely to experience it but the damage potential is considerably higher around Chicago. Pick your poison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Here are the rest of the 1800's-1949 tornadoes for Lake and Porter counties. I labeled the F4. The rest are F2/F3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 4/17/63... Soundings: 12z DVN 0z DVN 12z Upper Air Maps: 0z Upper Air Maps: Tornado Count: 6 Illinois: 1 F4: 1 Indiana: 3 F2: 2 F4: 1 Michigan: 2 F1: 1 F3: 1 Missouri: 1 F0: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Awesome. Thank you sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Wanted to bump this as I noticed that LOT posted a request for pics/stories regarding the upcoming 50th anniversary of the April 17, 1963 Kankakee-Medaryville tornado. Don't have any pics or personal accounts to share but will add a few other things. I remember reading that the tornado may have been part of a squall line or broken squall line and was visible to people in its path which probably explains the low death toll. Time of day also didn't hurt as it occurred in the late afternoon/early evening. Based on surrounding obs, temps were likely in the upper 70s with dewpoints in the low 60s in the area where the tornado occurred. The 00z/April 18 RAOB from Dayton, Ohio reveals a nice elevated mixed layer along with substantial directional and speed shear and gives a glimpse of the what the environment in northern IL/IN may have been like, though instability in IL/IN was probably higher. Note that the 00z/April 18 Peoria, IL RAOB had decent instability even though the cold front had already passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 The Great Lakes setups really love that long, more or less straight, southwesterly H5/upper level jet associated with a large scale positive tilt long wave with embedded strong shortwaves. That 1963 event is an example, as is 4/3/56, 4/11/65, 4/21/67...etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Just to add a little more about that 4/17/63 tornado... based on Storm Data for April 1963, it appears the areas of most intense damage were just north of Kankakee and then again in eastern Jasper county Indiana north of Gifford. Grazulis/official ratings are the same - F4 - but Grazulis mentions areas of near F5 damage in IL and IN which he doesn't do for many of the F4s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Illinois Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Continued... Niantic/Harristown, IL - F3: I believe this was night 1 of 2 that 2 tornadoes went through the same area. I was on the SE side of Decatur so it was a close call here.... Probably one of my favorite severe weather events everSent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 3/4/61... Notes: -The F2 tornado that pushed across Cook county killed 1 and injured 115 people. -The F1 tornado that pushed across McClean, Ford, and Iroquois counties injured 1. Soundings: 12z DVN 0z DVN 12z Upper Air Maps: 0z Upper Air Maps: Tornado Count: 4 Illinois: 3 F1: 1 F2: 1 F3: 1 Michigan: 1 F2: Wanted to add to this. I was searching for something else and came across some damage pictures from the tornado that went through the south side of Chicago. http://www.flickr.com/photos/edschonsett/2962738792/ Looks like it was a classic cool season event with high shear and low instability. Temperatures in Chicago started off in the upper 30s/low 40s that day as the warm front was still well south. The warm front moved through the area toward evening with a corresponding wind shift and increase in temps/moisture. Obs at Midway Airport around the time of the tornado were 56/54 with a SSE wind. Given the surface frontal position and the fact that the tornado touched down south of there, it may be reasonable to assume that temps/dewpoints were at least a couple degrees higher in the area where the tornado tracked. Considering the damage descriptions, this sounds like a legit F2 and not one of those overrated tornadoes from the old days. Besides the moderate to severe structural damage in places, it tossed a car approximately 50 yards and moved an 8000 pound vending machine 35 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.