June 20th, 2021 Severe Weather Event

[IWXwx]

...and a second Indiana QLCS TOR

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
417 PM EDT MON JUN 21 2021 /317 PM CDT MON JUN 21 2021/

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 06/21/2021 TORNADO EVENT...

...OVERVIEW...

.WYATT TORNADO JUNE 21 2021...

EMBEDDED WITHIN A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING DAMAGING  
WIND GUSTS, A BRIEF TORNADO DEVELOPED NORTHWEST OF WYATT. ACCORDING
TO PHOTOS, A NUMBER OF HEALTHY TREES WERE SNAPPED ALONG THE DAMAGE
PATH AND A BARN LOST ITS ROOF.

THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF OSBORNE
RD AND GUMWOOD RD. HEALTHY TREES WERE UPROOTED AT THIS LOCATION. 
IMMEDIATELY TO THE EAST, HEALTHY TREES WERE SNAPPED. AFTER 
CROSSING GUMWOOD RD, A LARGE PORTION OF A BARN ROOF WAS REMOVED, 
LOFTED AND DEBRIS SCATTERED TOWARD OSBORNE RD TO THE NORTH.  
IMMEDIATELY EAST OF THIS, A GROVE OF HEALTHY PINE TREES WERE ALL 
SNAPPED. THE TORNADO DISSIPATED BEFORE CROSSING FIR RD. 

..TORNADO NORTH OF WYATT...

RATING:                 EF1
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    100 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  1.0102 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   100.0 YARDS
FATALITIES:             0
INJURIES:               0

START DATE:             06/21/2021
START TIME:             02:07 AM EDT
START LOCATION:         1 S WOODLAND / ST. JOSEPH COUNTY / IN
START LAT/LON:          41.5505 / -86.1788

END DATE:               06/21/2021
END TIME:               02:09 AM EDT
END LOCATION:           1 NNE WYATT / ST. JOSEPH COUNTY / IN
END LAT/LON:            41.5458 / -86.1604

SURVEY SUMMARY:
PRELIMINARY DATA.

 

[Hoosier]

Naperville tornado is a preliminary EF-3

[nrgjeff]

Wow that's some serious damage in the Chicagoland suburbs. We down here in Chattanooga know the feeling. Midnight Sunday evening. EF-3. Not cool.

On the bright side @hlcater that's a very nice chase account on the previous page. I think that's the only pic of the second tornado I've seen. Good stuff!

[Hoosier]

Here is a plot of F/EF3 or greater tornadoes in and surrounding the Chicago metro area since 1990 (map goes through 2018, but there was nothing in 2019-2020).  The one going northeast from Will into Cook is the 3/27/1991 tornado that I mentioned earlier.  For those familiar with the area, you can sort of mentally add in the Naperville area tornado.  

 

[HillsdaleMIWeather]

An event like this at least shows that lead time saves lives, it sounds like a lot of people took shelter before it hit

[frostfern]

Found an even better frame of the nocturnal mothership near Eau Claire, Michigan.  This cell got absorbed into the QLCS a little later.  It was only a severe warning when I last looked.  Don't know if it had a tornado warning at this point.  The scud looked pretty ominous here but it's hard to gauge actual rotation at night.

[Chicago Storm]

10 hours ago, Chicago Storm said:

Alright... 

So, as I mentioned last night I took a hit from the Naperville/Woodridge/Darien tornado as it crossed I-355 in Woodridge. As the line of storms approached, I noticed that couplet was organizing. It was set to cross I-355 less than 10 minutes from where I live, and I knew I had just enough time to get there. So we jumped in the car and 8 minutes later we were hit. Driving south on 355 approaching, there were several power flashes off to the right side, even as we came to a stop. Then it rolled us, throwing debris at the car (Hard to see it a lot in the video due to rain). 

After the hit, I spent quite a while out in the damage path, on either side of 355. The damage path is a healthy width, but the significant damage was confined to about a 3 home width or so. Some of the most significant damage I’m guessing could be EF-3, thinking of some of the DI off the top of my head.

A few additional videos from today...

 

 

 

[frostfern]

Here's the cell in I was looking at in Berrien county at 12:31 am.  Definite hook and small couplet.  One pixel is in the 65 mph range, away from KIWX.  I don't know if this was ever confirmed as a tornado.  If anything touched down it was extremely brief.  The scud was ominously low to the ground but it was hard to tell if what I was looking at was the actual center of rotation, or if it was farther back.  The scud I saw might have just been outflow from the cell farther west being lifted.  The merging of the two cells disrupted whatever was trying to form at this moment.  There was definitely decent rotation low to the ground right at that moment though.  The internet will probably think the picture is a tornado, but it isn't really a funnel so I can't honestly claim I actually saw anything.  The lightning wasn't frequent enough to pick up motion and it was too blinding.  It can actually see it better on my camera than I could in person.

[Hoosier]

2 hours ago, Chicago Storm said:

A few additional videos from today...

 

 

 

Will be a lengthy clean up, and the landscape will show the effects for years.  I can drive through the area of Griffith where the EF-2 hit in 2008 and still tell that something happened there.  There's a zone without trees or newer trees that are smaller than others nearby.

[Hoosier]

[Hoosier]

There's a zone of enhanced damage around far eastern Gary and over the county line into Porter county.  LOT has a survey team out there so will be curious as to the determination.  Storm was actually fairly garden variety here... breezy but nothing extreme... so it seems like it waned as it came through before picking up again farther east.

[Hoosier]

Some details on the EF-3

 

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
347 PM CDT TUE JUN 22 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1105 PM     TORNADO          2 SSW NAPERVILLE        41.74N 88.17W
06/20/2021                   DUPAGE             IL   NWS STORM SURVEY

*** 11 INJ ***
AN NWS STORM SURVEY DETERMINED THAT AN EF-3 TORNADO WITH PEAK WINDS OF 140 MPH, PATH LENGTH OF 16.1 MILES, AND MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 600 YARDS IMPACTED NAPERVILLE, WOODRIDGE, DARIEN, BURR RIDGE, AND WILLOW SPRINGS DURING THE EVENING OF JUNE 20, 2021. AROUND 230 HOMES SUSTAINED DAMAGE IN NAPERVILLE AND WOODRIDGE, AND CONSIDERABLE TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS NOTED NEAR PRINCETON CIRCLE IN NAPERVILLE WHERE A HOUSE COMPLETELY COLLAPSED AND MULTIPLE NEARBY HOMES SUSTAINED CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO THEIR ROOF AND WALLS. ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED IN WOODRIDGE WHERE SEVERAL HOMES LOST THEIR ROOF AND WALLS. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES BEFORE LIFTING NEAR BUFFALO WOODS IN WILLOW SPRINGS, AND CROSSED INTERSTATES 355
AND 55 ALONG ITS PATH.

[Hoosier]

LOT has a survey map up.  Looks like the EF-3 and even EF-2 damage was very limited in scope along the path.  It is fortunate that that type of damage didn't have a larger footprint, because it may have meant more injuries and possibly some fatalities.  

[Chicago Storm]

LOT has the damage assessment tool up now.

Red line is where I was when it hit.

[CheeselandSkies]

15 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

LOT has the damage assessment tool up now.

Red line is where I was when it hit.

[ChiTownSnow]

33 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

LOT has the damage assessment tool up now.

Red line is where I was when it hit

Just catching up these posts.. What a crazy night.

I live in Darien along 75th. Just a few blocks from the path..We had enough warning from what happened in Naperville/Woodridge area to get downstairs and truly believe that warning absolutely would have saved lives here if the situation had been worse. 

Very uneasy/helpless feeling when a tornado is confirmed and heading right for you. 

Adding that the local sirens are what woke my family and I up and was key.  The emergency broadcast on phone was several minutes later but still prior to hit

[janetjanet998]

If you are interested in watching "as it happened" type stuff...

 

6-20-2021 WGN Chicago Live Tornado Coverage

https://rumble.com/vix7cz-6-20-2021-wgn-chicago-live-tornado-coverage.html

 

Also live news coverage of other notable historic tornadoes (19 up so far)

Live Tornadoes

https://rumble.com/c/c-772497

[Castaway]

I had a chance to go briefly through the area yesterday. Started in Naperville by 75th and Rickert and went east. 
 

You can tell there was a very narrow track of higher intensity. It seemed like in some areas there were other narrow tracks going along parallel with it that were a block or so apart but not sure. It was hard to tell. Some roads were blocked.

Was a lot of action by the home that was leveled. Seemed like there was another one behind it too. 
 

Wide spread tree damage around. Tree canopies snapped near the main circulation.

Saw a empty field/lot that had a row of trees down in the track before hitting homes where roads were blocked. 
 

You can already tell that some neighborhoods look different already from the substantial tree damage to the taller/matured trees around. 
 

They cleared out a lot and are making good progress. 
 

Didn’t get the chance to make it past 355 in Woodridge

[IWXwx]

16 minutes ago, Castaway said:

I had a chance to go briefly through the area yesterday. Started in Naperville by 75th and Rickert and went east. 
 

You can tell there was a very narrow track of higher intensity. It seemed like in some areas there were other narrow tracks going along parallel with it that were a block or so apart but not sure. It was hard to tell. Some roads were blocked.

Was a lot of action by the home that was leveled. Seemed like there was another one behind it too. 
 

Wide spread tree damage around. Tree canopies snapped near the main circulation.

Saw a empty field/lot that had a row of trees down in the track before hitting homes where roads were blocked. 
 

You can already tell that some neighborhoods look different already from the substantial tree damage to the taller/matured trees around. 
 

They cleared out a lot and are making good progress. 
 

Didn’t get the chance to make it past 355 in Woodridge

RFD?

[Castaway]

1 hour ago, IWXwx said:

RFD?

Not sure. It could of been debris being thrown around or some homes just had weaker siding or roof shingles that got affected more than others.

But it seemed in one area it was more how the narrow track of high intensity was maybe touching down at parts. Or maybe other vortices very briefly spinned up near it. 

I remember going through Ranchview area or it might of been a little after it between rt53 and 355 seeing the narrow track on one side, with a couple homes next to it in generally good shape, and then a little more damage on the other side next to them. About a couple houses apart at most. 

Just what I noticed briefly going through that area as there was traffic and crews busy cleaning up. Plus some roads in the neighborhoods were blocked and detoured around a bit. Think it was Everglade Ave that was blocked off
 

 

[Chicago Storm]

1 hour ago, IWXwx said:

RFD?

RFD damage was virtually non-existent.

Went from no damage to tornado damage very quickly.

[A-L-E-K]

can't wait until i experience my first tornado while stuck on the kennedy or something

[SchaumburgStormer]

4 hours ago, A-L-E-K said:

can't wait until i experience my first tornado while stuck on the kennedy or something

Will shorten your travel time. 

[Hoosier]

A couple things regarding the Naperville tornado...

Since 1950, it is the strongest tornado to hit so late in the evening north of I-80 in the LOT cwa.  There have been a few other F/EF3 tornadoes that hit between ~10 pm and midnight to the south of I-80.

I own a copy of the big green book, so I am able to look at tornado data back into the 1800s.  When including pre-1950 tornadoes, it still goes down as one of the most significant tornadoes on record for DuPage county.  

[CheeselandSkies]

One pre-NEXRAD era event that I wish I could go back and look at on modern Doppler radar is the June 1984 Barneveld, WI F5 which struck around midnight. As we've seen, nocturnal significant tornado events in June occur from time to time in the upper Midwest, including this recent DuPage County tornado and the Wisconsin outbreak from June 2014. However, in those two the tornadoes were produced by a QLCS and the intensity max was low-end EF3. I'd be curious to see whether the Barneveld tornado was an exceptionally violent QLCS tornado, or came from a discrete, classic supercell that somehow managed to persist that late at night.

[Geoboy645]

1 hour ago, CheeselandSkies said:

One pre-NEXRAD era event that I wish I could go back and look at on modern Dopper radar is the June 1984 Barneveld, WI F5 which struck around midnight. As we've seen, nocturnal significant tornado events in June occur from time to time in the upper Midwest, including this recent DuPage County tornado and the Wisconsin outbreak from June 2014. However, in those two the tornadoes were produced by a QLCS and the intensity max was low-end EF3. I'd be curious to see whether the Barneveld tornado was an exceptionally violent QLCS tornado, or came from a discrete, classic supercell that somehow managed to persist that late at night.

Barneveld was definitely a discrete supercell. And it was quite cyclic too. Not only did it drop Barneveld, but it dropped an F2 by Rio and then a long track F3 that ended up by Markesan. The cell originated from the remnants of storms from an outbreak in IA/MO the previous day. Those storms even dropped a 130mi+ F4. It is honestly one of the most fascinating meteorological evolutions of a violent tornado. Especially considering the time of night. Here is a paper on it and some of the terrain influences on the tornado outbreak. https://ams.confex.com/ams/27SLS/webprogram/Manuscript/Paper254701/9_126_Frye_courtney.pdf

[CheeselandSkies]

11 minutes ago, Geoboy645 said:

Barneveld was definitely a discrete supercell. And it was quite cyclic too. Not only did it drop Barneveld, but it dropped an F2 by Rio and then a long track F3 that ended up by Markesan. The cell originated from the remnants of storms from an outbreak in IA/MO the previous day. Those storms even dropped a 130mi+ F4. It is honestly one of the most fascinating meteorological evolutions of a violent tornado. Especially considering the time of night. Here is a paper on it and some of the terrain influences on the tornado outbreak. https://ams.confex.com/ams/27SLS/webprogram/Manuscript/Paper254701/9_126_Frye_courtney.pdf

That had to have been an extremely rare set of circumstances, it's almost unheard of in this part of the country apart from that one event. Dixie once in a while, but here by that time of night any discrete supercells have either died off due to boundary layer decoupling or upscale growth into an MCS/QLCS has occurred.