Damaging Winds in Illinois, September 6, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds in Illinois, September 6, 2001
Start: 2001-09-06T18:20
End: 2001-09-06T18:35
Location: Illinois

September 6, 2001 · NWS LOT · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Part of a tree fell across a road near Oswego in Kendall County. Large tree limbs were blown down in Naperville and Glen Ellyn in DuPage County and in Plainfield in Will County.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

Part of a tree fell across a road near Oswego in Kendall County. Large tree limbs were blown down in Naperville and Glen Ellyn in DuPage County and in Plainfield in Will County.

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 Sep 6, 2:00 PM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 6, 2:00 PM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
300 PM CDT THU SEP 6 2001

WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS SHORT WAVE LIFTING NORTHEAST ACROSS KANSAS
AND MISSOURI THIS AFTERNOON...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING IN COVERAGE INTO WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE
FORECAST AREA. PLENTY OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE...WITH SURFACE DEWPOINTS
SURGING INTO THE UPPER 60S AND LOWER 70S. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT
IN TAKING THIS FIRST WAVE NORTHEAST INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION
TONIGHT...DAMPING AND WEAKENING IT IN THE PROCESS AS IT RIDES INTO
THE RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE NATION. SOMEWHAT OF A LULL
IN THE ACTION FRIDAY IN THE WAKE OF THIS FIRST SYSTEM...ALHTOUGH
WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS IN FOR SCATTERED PRECIP POSSIBLE IN MOIST
AIRMASS AND POSSIBLE SMALL RIPPLES IN UPPER FLOW. BETTER CHANCE FOR
PRECIPITATION RETURN SATURDAY...AS NEXT SIGNIFICANT SHORT WAVE
ROUNDS THE BASE OF THE TROF AND LIFTS TOWARD ILLINOIS. SOME
DIFFERENCES IN TIMING BETWEEN MODELS WITH THIS ONE...WITH AVN ABOUT
6 HOURS FASTER THAN THE SLOWER ETA. AT THIS DISTANCE WILL GO WITH A
BLEND...AND GO WITH LIKELY POPS SATURDAY. WILL KEEP CHANCE FOR
SATURDAY NIGHT...AS ETA HOLDS ON TO POST FRONTAL PRECIP IN VICINITY
OF LOW LEVEL BAROCLINIC ZONE AND RIGHT ENTRANCE TO UPPER JET MAX
WHILE AVN ATTEMPTS TO BRING IN DRY SLOT.

MAIN UPPER TROF MOVES ACROSS SUNDAY...AND ALTHOUGH SURFACE FRONT AND
MOIST AXIS PASSES TO THE EAST...WILL HANG ON TO CHANCE POPS FOR
SHOWERS ON SUNDAY AS VORT PASSES OVERHEAD. SURFACE HIGH THEN BUILDS
IN EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH MRF INDICATING FLOW TO BECOME A BIT
FLATTER BEHIND EXITING TROF. WARM ADVECTION PRECIP RETURNS TO
NORTHERN PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST ON BACK SIDE OF HIGH BY MID
WEEK...BUT LOOKS TO STAY NORTH AND WEST OF FORECAST AREA INTO
THURSDAY.

TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE PRETTY CLOSE BETWEEN FWC/FAN AND APPEARS
REASONABLE. WILL GO WITH HIGHER MINS WITH DEWPOINTS NEAR 70 NEXT TWO
NIGHTS. BIG DIFFERENCES SHOW UP BY 120 HOURS BETWEEN AVN AND MRF
HOWEVER...WITH 850 TEMPS OF +10 AND +4 RESPECTIVELY BY 12Z MONDAY.
CURRENT FORECAST TRENDS COOLER BUT A LITTLE ABOVE MRF MEX GUIDANCE.
THIS IN LINE WITH NCEP MANUAL NUMBERS AND WILL CONTINUE.

.CHI...NONE

RATZER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 6, 4:16 PM CST, 2 hours 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
516 PM CDT THU SEP 06 2001

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

0330 PM    POLO                      IL   45 MPH TSTM GUST
09/06/01   OGLE                           ONE TREE DOWN. 5-8
                                          INCH BRANCHES DOWN IN
                                          CITY. REPORTED BY
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Kendall

When: September 6, 6:20 PM CST
Where: Kendall County, 3 mi NE of Oswego
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.717, -88.317

Thunderstorm Wind, Du Page

When: September 6, 6:25 PM CST to 6:35 PM CST
Where: Du Page County, Naperville
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.783, -88.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Will

When: September 6, 6:25 PM CST
Where: Will County, Plainfield
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.600, -88.200

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.

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, September 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: 5267518, 5267516, 5267517.