More than 35 million people from Wisconsin to Oklahoma faced a severe weather outbreak Friday that produced violent storms and multiple tornadoes. By early evening officials had received reports of 12 tornadoes across five states, and a tornado was confirmed on the ground in Illinois.
A powerful storm, believed to be a tornado, tore through the village of Lena in Stephenson County in northwest Illinois Friday afternoon, leaving extensive damage to homes and businesses, scattered debris and downed power lines. Authorities reported no deaths or serious injuries; the Stephenson County sheriff scheduled a Saturday morning briefing to discuss the response.
A tornado warning in the Milwaukee area prompted evacuation of the air traffic control tower at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Forecasters identified the highest risk for strong tornadoes from central and southern Wisconsin into eastern Iowa. Northern parts of Illinois and Missouri faced their greatest threat from destructive straight-line winds.
Tornado watches were issued for portions of Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri — including the Kansas City and Wichita areas, along with parts of the St. Louis and Chicago metro areas — in effect through 11 p.m. CT. Meteorologists warned of the potential for intense tornadoes, wind gusts up to 75 mph, and large hail as storms moved through. The Storm Prediction Center upgraded the outlook to a level 4 of 5 “moderate risk” for parts of northwest Oklahoma, central and eastern Kansas and west-central Missouri, covering cities such as Kansas City, Wichita and Topeka. Later thunderstorms were forecast to possibly produce baseball-size hail, destructive winds up to 90 mph and additional tornadoes.
Flash flooding was also a concern, with flood watches posted from Missouri northward to northern Michigan. The system came on the heels of earlier flooding and tornado activity this week. The National Weather Service confirmed at least 28 tornadoes across nine states earlier in the week, with Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois among the hardest hit.
Additional rainfall from the current storms — an extra 1 to 3 inches in some areas — threatened already saturated soils, raising river flood risk and even the possibility of sinkholes. Earlier in the week, a 41-year-old man was killed by a lightning strike in a Waukesha County, Wisconsin, parking lot.