High Wind, Cook
- When
- February 22, 5:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
- Measured
- 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
High Wind in Illinois, February 22, 2003
Low pressure moving through the Ohio Valley on Saturday February 22nd deepened as it moved east. Northerly winds continued to increase during the late afternoon and evening, gusting to as high as 62 mph at Meigs Field in downtown Chicago.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Low pressure moving through the Ohio Valley on Saturday February 22nd deepened as it moved east. Northerly winds continued to increase during the late afternoon and evening, gusting to as high as 62 mph at Meigs Field in downtown Chicago.
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 Feb 22, 2:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 22, 2:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
230 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2003
PUBLIC DISCUSSION FOR 4 PM ZONES
THE LONG WAVE OVER THE CENTER OF THE UNITED STATES AND POSITION
OF THE SURFACE LOW ARE DETERMINED AT THIS TIME BY SURFACE ANALYSIS
AND PROFILER DATA. THE VORTICITY CENTER SEEN BY IR SATELLITE LOOPS.
COMPARING THESE POSITIONS WITH THE ETA AND AVN MODELS 6 HOUR
FORECASTS SEE THAT THE ETA IS A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE ACTUAL
MOVEMENT OF THE LOW AND WAVE. ENHANCEMENT OF THE SATELLITE
AND RADAR LOOPS SHOW THE 25 TO 30 DBZ ECHOES MOVING OUT OF FORD
AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. SOUTHERN JASPER AND SOUTHERN NEWTON AND
BENTON COUNTIES HAVE 25 TO 30 DBZ RADAR ECHOES. LIGHT SNOW WILL
CONTINUE ACROSS THE INDIANA COUNTIES BUT WILL END SOON FOR
FORD AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. WILL KEEP THE SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE
ILLINOIS COUNTIES AND KEEP THE SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE EVENING
FOR BENTON...JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES.
THE NEXT WAVE SEEN ON THE 12 UTC 500 MB MAPS IS OVER IDAHO.
THIS WAVE WILL AFFECT THE AREA OF NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND
NORTHWEST INDIANA. BOTH MODELS HAVE THE CYCLONE IS FAR SOUTH
INTO NORTHERN KENTUCKY BY MONDAY MORNING. WILL PUT A SMALL
CHANCE OF SNOW FOR SUNDAY NIGHT.
.CHI...SNOW ADVISORY FOR FORD AND IROQOUIS IN ILLINOIS
NEWTON...JASPER AND BENTON COUNTIES IN INDIANA
UNTIL 9 PM CST OR 10 PM EST.
GALE WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF LAKE MICHIGAN
TONIGHT.
WHW
AVIATION DISCUSSION FOR 18Z TAFS
BASED ON LATEST RADAR TRENDS AND MODELS HAVE PULLED SN OUT OF DPA,
ORD, MDW. WHILE MIGHT BE A FEW FLURRIES LATER NOT SIGNIFICANT. KEPT
A LITTLE SN IN AT GYY AS WILL BE ON THE EDGE THERE. LOOKS LIKE
STRONG NE WINDS TO CONT THIS AFTERNOON BECOME N TONIGHT AND NNW LATE
TONIGHT AND DIE OFF. STILL A LITTLE IFR CIGS N OF ORD SO FOR ANOTHER
HOUR OR 2 COULD DROP TO A HIGH IFR AT ORD MDW BUT AFTER THAT
SHOULD BE MVFR WITH A SLOW CLIMB. LOOKING UPSTREAM OVER MN, WI LOTS
OF MVFR CIGS SO DO NOT THINK WILL BREAK UNTIL MIDDAY SUNDAY.
AFHazardous weather outlook, Feb 22, 4:00 PM CST, 1 hour before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019-020>023-032-033-039-INZ001-002-010-011-019 -231200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 400 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST INDIANA...AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE... TONIGHT. A SNOW ADVISORY IS POSTED FOR THIS EVENING ACROSS PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. THE COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE FORD AND IROQUOIS IN ILLINOIS AND BENTON...JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES IN INDIANA. ACCUMULATIONS OF AROUND 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY SUNDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS WILL NOT BE NEEDED. WHW
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Kentucky, February 22, 2003
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Virginia, February 22 to 23, 2003
- Avalanche in Idaho, February 22, 2003
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Georgia, February 22, 2003
- Winter Weather in Vermont, February 22 to 23, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, February 22 to 23, 2003
- Heavy Rain in New Jersey, February 22, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, February 22 to 23, 2003
- Flooding in West Virginia, February 22 to 23, 2003
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, February 22, 2003
- Flooding and Heavy Rain in Virginia, February 22 to 23, 2003
- Tornado and Hail in Virginia, February 22, 2003
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, February 2003
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: 5343910.