The rotation begin to define itself into a classic funnel shape.
I describe chasing a tornado similar to this one in my book. When you read my book you
will feel as though you are on the chase with me getting in on all the action.
It continued to grow larger and was looking quite impressive at this
point. It was so exciting sitting there watching this tornado spin so fast on the open
prairie.
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In the Chicago area there were about 15 F3 and F4 tornadoes between 1855 and 2002. In the
Chicago area only one F5 tornado is known to have ever hit there. Between 1855 and 2002
there were 86 significant tornadoes. The majority of deaths and injuries have resulted
from the largest tornadoes (F4s and F5s), even though these are rather rare across the
Chicago area. However, a significant percentage of deaths and injuries were caused by
smaller (but still very dangerous) tornadoes (F0-F3).
(F0-F3) tornadoes are the most frequent across the area, and usually
harder to detect than the very large tornadoes. This should remind us that all tornadoes,
regardless of size, have the potential to cause deaths and injuries.
The Chicago area is defined as McHenry, Lake, Kane, DuPage, Cook,
Kendall, Will, and Lake (IN) counties.
Sources for this data is from the National Weather Service, StormData, the Storm
Predication Center, and Significant Tornadoes written by Tom Grazulis.
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National Weather Service Data
Tornado Watch Box Graphic
Detailed Weather Data of Event |
