Chicago weather: 12 tornadoes confirmed in Illinois and NW Indiana, NWS says

The National Weather Service confirmed at least 12 tornadoes touched down in Illinois and Northwest Indiana Friday night. 

The tornado reported in Belvidere, that left 1 killed and 40 more injured when a roof collapsed, was later confirmed to be an EF-1 by the NWS. 

EF-1 rating means wind gusts reached 65-85 mph, while an EF-2 has wind gusts from 111-135 mph, according to the NWS.

The tornadoes were reported at the following locations:

  • EF-2 near Amboy, IL
  • EF-1 in West Brooklyn, IL
  • Near Baileyville, IL (rating TBD)
  • EF-1 in Machesney Park, IL
  • EF-1 from Davis Junction to Belvidere, IL
  • Caledonia/Poplar Grove, IL (rating TBD)
  • EF-1 near Wellington, IL
  • EF-1 near Stockland, IL
  • EF-1 from Lombard to Addison, IL
  • EF-2 near Oxford, IN
  • EF-2 near Fowler, IN
  • EF-1 near Remington, IN

Nearly 20,000 ComEd customers were still without power in Northern Illinois Saturday morning after two tornadoes touched down the night before.

ComEd crews have been working through the night to restore power after over 500 outages were reported. There were 129 crews actively working as of noon on Saturday. 

The NWS will continue to investigate other areas with severe damages in the upcoming days. 

Additional surveying will take place in Merrillville, Valparaiso, Batavia, Plainfield, Plano-Montgomery, Frankfort-Park Forest, and Minooka-Channahon.