Massive Storms Hit Chicago's South Suburbs With 120 MPH Winds And 550,000 Outages
A powerful line of storms tore through the Chicago area Tuesday morning, spawning tornado warnings across multiple counties, producing wind gusts as high as 120 mph in the south suburbs and 99 mph at Gary, Indiana's airport, canceling approximately 250 flights at O'Hare and triggering ground stops at both O'Hare and Midway airports that have since been lifted.
As of Tuesday afternoon, ComEd was reporting 275,753 outages in northern Illinois and NIPSCO was reporting 280,254 outages in northwest Indiana.
Tornado sirens were heard throughout Chicago neighborhoods around 10:30 AM. Office workers downtown were urged to shelter in place.
Shoppers at Oak Brook Mall were sent to the basement. The strongest storms moved along a corridor through the south and southwest suburbs of Cook County before pushing into northwest Indiana, with the National Weather Service sending survey teams to far southern Cook County and northern Will County to assess ground damage.
No tornadoes have been officially confirmed from Tuesday's storms, but that assessment is ongoing.
Tuesday's outbreak follows a devastating round of seven confirmed tornadoes that hit the south Chicago suburbs just two weeks ago.
The Chicago area has now seen 62 confirmed tornadoes in 2026, nearly four times the 30-year average of 16. More storms are expected Wednesday through the weekend.
