Funnel Cloud, Cook
- When
- May 28, 4:20 PM CST
- Where
- Cook County, Matteson
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 41.895, -87.646 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Clouds in Illinois, May 28, 2001
There were numerous reports of funnel clouds from Matteson to Peotone to Beecher.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
There were numerous reports of funnel clouds from Matteson to Peotone to Beecher.
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 May 28, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 28, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 315 PM CDT MON MAY 28 2001 MAIN FLY IN IONTMENT THIS EVENING IS WITH ISOLD SHWRS IN WI BORDER COUNTIES. RIGHT NOW THESE ARE QUITE ISOLATED AND COVERED BY CURRENT FCST. AM EXPECTING THESE TO DSIPT EARLY THIS EVE SO WILL NOT MENTION IN NEW ZONES. ANY LINGERING SPRINKLES CAN BE COVERED BY A NOWCAST. OTHERWISE...SATLT LOOPS SHOW VORT MAX LOCATED OVER IL INVOF BDF. LOCATION AND INTENSITY SUGGEST ETA IS HANDLING THIS FEATURE THE BEST THOUGH 6-12 HR FCST PERIOD. RADAR SHOWS A PATCH OF MAINLY SRATIFIED PCPN THAT WILL CLIP SRN PORTION OF FA. OVERNIGHT THIS SYS ZIPS OFF TO UPR OH VLY SO WITH BACK EDGE OF MID LEVEL LYRD CLOUDS ALREADY MOVING ACROSS NWRN IL WILL CALL FOR CLRG SKIES OVERNIGHT. ON TUES AM EXPECTING FIELD OF INSTABILITY CU DURING DIURNAL HEATING BUT NO SHWRS. NEXT PCPN DUE IN ABOUT THU WITH SYS PASSING TO THE S OF FA SO WOULD EXPECT THUNDER TO STAY TO S IN MORE UNSTABLE AIR AND BETTER ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE. BETTER CHANCE OF THUNDER IN EXTENDED ON FRI AS AVN SHOWS VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE DIGGING SEWD INTO AREA. TEMPS O.K...ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS. .CHI...NONE. MERZLOCK
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 28, 10:39 AM CST, 5 hours 41 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 291100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 1200 PM CDT/EST MON MAY 28 2001 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHE2AST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA... NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. MERZLOCK
Special weather statement, May 28, 12:35 PM CST, 3 hours 45 minutes before
ILZ012-013-020-022-282300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 135 PM CDT MON MAY 28 2001 AT 120 PM CDT...FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE SPOTTED NEAR BATAVIA AND NEAR ELBURN IN SOUTHEAST KANE COUNTY. SINCE THERE WERE NO THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THESE LOCATIONS...THESE FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE LIKELY COLD AIR FUNNELS. COLD AIR FUNNELS FORM IN COMBINATION WITH COLD AIR WITHIN TEN THOUSAND FEET OF THE GROUND AND A VERY STRONG COUNTERCLOCKWISE CIRCULATION IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE. THE LOCALIZED ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS WHICH CAUSED THESE FUNNELS WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST TOWARD NORTHEAST KENDALL AND NORTHWEST WILL COUNTIES. THE COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS GENERALLY DO NOT TOUCH THE GROUND. WHEN AND IF THEY DO...SOME LIGHT DAMAGE IS POSSIBLE. BRUMER
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:17 UTC.
Event by event
2 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Funnel Cloud, Will
- When
- May 28, 4:20 PM CST to 4:25 PM CST
- Where
- Will County, Peotone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 41.445, -87.979 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Colorado, May 28, 2001
- Dense Fog in Florida, May 28, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in New York, May 28, 2001
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 28, 2001
- Flash Flood in Wyoming, May 28, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, May 28, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 28, 2001
- Tornadoes and Hail in Colorado, May 28, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, May 28, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, May 28, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 28, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Georgia, May 28, 2001
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 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: 5241267, 5241268.