Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 22, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 22, 2001
Start: 2001-07-22T14:25
End: 2001-07-22T17:45
Location: Illinois

July 22, 2001 · NWS LOT · 14 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.

A line of thunderstorms moved southeast from southern Wisconsin into northern Illinois during the late afternoon of Sunday July 22nd. The line of thunderstorms interacted with a lake breeze moving west through Cook county from Lake Michigan. Most of the damage from these storms was in the form of trees and limbs down and power lines down which were received from: Belvidere and Capron in Boone county; Richmond, Crystal Lake and McHenry in McHenry county; Barrington and Elk Grove Village in Cook county; Wauconda and Grayslake in Lake county; Lombard in Dupage county; Yorkville in Kendall county; Aurora in Kane county; Bradley in Kankakee county and Streator in La Salle county. Trees were reported down on a car in Elmhurst in Dupage county at 1545 CST. A waterspout developed on the leading edge of this line of thunderstorms as it moved southeast across Lake county in Illinois one mile east of Winthrop Harbor. No injuries or damage were reported from this waterspout. 50,000 people lost power across the Chicago area during the storms. A 49 year old woman was struck by lightning around 1500 CST while walking through Miller Meadow in Maywood. The woman died from extensive burns the next day.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 22, 1:30 PM CST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 1:30 PM CST, 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
230 PM CDT SUN JUL 22 2001

NUMEROUS HI'S AROUND 100 NOW AND TEMPS TNGT PROGGED IN THE MIDDLE OR
UPPER 70S SHOULD MAINTAIN HEAT HEADLINES THRU TONIGHT. WLL LET MID
SHIFT DECIDE IF IT WARRANTS CONTINUATION ON MONDAY. WITH TEMPS
PROGGED IN LOWER OR MIDDLE 90S...APPEARS NERN IL WARNING PROBABLY
WILL CONTINUE TIL MONDAY NIGHT WHEN COLD FRONT DROPS IN AND LOWERS
DEWPOINTS.

GOOD CAPES AND STEERING WINDS TONIGHT SUGGEST STORMS THAT ARE
POPPING UP HERE AND THERE SHOULD CONTINUE WELL INTO SUNSET AND WILL
LIKELY PRODUCE MORE DOWNBURST OUTFLOWS. OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM S
CENTRAL WI BACK THRU JO DAVIESS CUD SLIPPING EAST ACROSS NRN CENTRAL
TO NERN IL LATE THIS AFTN INTO THIS EVENING. SO POPS WILL PROBABLY
GO OUT AS CATEGORICALLY SCT OR ISOLATED TSTMS THIS EVENING.
CONTINUATION PAST MIDNIGHT IS QUESTIONABLE.

COLD FNT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST MONDAY ALONG WITH MORE HEAT
GENERATED TSTMS WORTH ANOTHER POP MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT AS FNT.
THIS SHUD TERMINATE NEED FOR ADVISORIES/WRNGS AND USHER IN DRIER
CONDITIONS FOR TUESDAY. GOOD COLD AND DRY AIR NOT FILTERING DOWN
UNTIL WEDNESDAY.

LOOKING COOLER AND DRIER FOR THE REST OF THE WORK WEEK...BUT RETURN
SOUTH FLOW SHOULD RETURN CHC OF TSTMS ON SATURDAY.

TEMPS CRITICAL FOR PCPN AND CLOUD COVER BUT HAVE BEEN DOING FAIRLY
WELL LAST FEW DAYS AND WILL FOLLOW GUIDANCE VALUES CLOSELYg.

.CHI...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FOR CHICAGO AREA
       EXCESSIVE HEAT ADV FOR REST OF CWA

BRUMER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 22, 10:42 AM CST, 3 hours 43 minutes before

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019-
231100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
NOON AM CDT/EST SUN JUL 22 2001

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA.

NOT UNLIKE YESTERDAY...MANY REMNANTS OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM
YESTERDAY'S THUNDERSTORMS LAY ACROSS THE REGION. AS TEMPERATURES
CLIMB THROUGH THE 90S...NEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY ERUPT ALONG THESE
BOUNDARIES. HIGH INSTABILITY VALUES WOULD SUGGEST THAT ANY STORMS
THAT DO DEVELOP COULD BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO
TONIGHT. THUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA LAY UNDER A
SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

IN ADDITION...AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS POSTED FOR NORTHEAST
ILLINOIS WITH A HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS
AND NORTHWEST INDIANA.

DAYTIME TEMPERATURES REACHING THE LOWER AND MIDDLE 90S COMBINED WITH
HIGH HUMIDITY WILL PUSH HEAT INDEX VALUES INTO THE 100 TO 105 DEGREE
RANGE OVER THE AREA. NIGHTTIME HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL CONTINUE IN
THE MIDDLE OR UPPER 70S OVERNIGHT.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES OF A STRENUOUS
NATURE SHOULD BE POSTPONED. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO AIR
CONDITIONING...SEEK ACCESS TO YOUR COMMUNITY'S COOLING SHELTERS OR
OTHER AIR CONDITIONED BUILDINGS. STAY OUT OF THE SUN AND TRY TO FIND
A BREEZE OR SOME VENTILATION. IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO...CALL 311 FOR
T+HE LOCATION OF THE NEAREST COOLING SHELTER.

BRUMER

Local storm report, Jul 22, 2:13 PM CST, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
313 PM CDT SUN JUL 22 2001

...test...test...test...

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0313 PM    AMBIA                     IN   60 MPH TSTM GUST
07/22/01   BENTON

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning, 1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Boone

When: July 22, 2:25 PM CST to 2:40 PM CST
Where: Boone County, Belvidere
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.250, -88.850

Thunderstorm Wind, McHenry

When: July 22, 2:45 PM CST to 2:50 PM CST
Where: McHenry County, Richmond
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.467, -88.300

Hail, Du Page

When: July 22, 2:55 PM CST
Where: Du Page County, Aurora
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.767, -88.317

Thunderstorm Wind, Cook

When: July 22, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Cook County, Barrington
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.150, -88.133

Lightning, Cook

When: July 22, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Cook County, Maywood
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.895, -87.646 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Lake

When: July 22, 3:20 PM CST to 3:30 PM CST
Where: Lake County, Grayslake
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.350, -88.050

Waterspout, Lake

When: July 22, 3:25 PM CST to 3:30 PM CST
Where: Lake County, 1 mi E of Winthrop Harbor
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.349, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Cook

When: July 22, 3:45 PM CST
Where: Cook County, Elk Grove
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.000, -87.933

Hail, Cook

When: July 22, 3:45 PM CST
Where: Cook County, Winnetka
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.117, -87.717

Thunderstorm Wind, Du Page

When: July 22, 3:45 PM CST
Where: Du Page County, Elmhurst
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.883, -87.950

Thunderstorm Wind, Kendall

When: July 22, 4:20 PM CST
Where: Kendall County, Yorkville
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.633, -88.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Kane

When: July 22, 4:25 PM CST
Where: Kane County, Aurora
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.767, -88.317

Thunderstorm Wind, Kankakee

When: July 22, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Kankakee County, Bradley
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.133, -87.867

Thunderstorm Wind, La Salle

When: July 22, 5:45 PM CST
Where: La Salle County, Streator
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.117, -88.833

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Lightning, Cook	2001-07-23	49	Female	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Waterspout: A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, July 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5258212, 5258213, 5258214, 5258215, 5258223, 5258216, 5258225, 5258217, 5258218, 5258219, 5258220, 5258221, 5258222, 5258224.