Jun 23, 2010
On June 23, 2010 a supercell thunderstorm hit the city of Chicago, Illinois. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Cook County including downtown Chicago as the storm approached. Thankfully, damage was minimal in and around the downtown area.
Below I have a added a radar image of the supercell thunderstorm tracking across the Chicago area. Notice the hook echo signature on the radar. Usually this represents rotation in the thunderstorm that could produce a tornado.
It was not long ago that another memorable severe storm hit Chicago during the late evening hours on August 4, 2008. A damaging bow-echo initiated across eastern Iowa and aimed directly at Chicago causing tornadoes and straight-line wind damage. This storm caused havoc at Wrigley Field with the Cubs and Astros facing each other. The lightning caused a big problem for fans and players.
I have added some video clips of this event below and a discussion via the National Weather Service regarding this severe weather event.
