Thunderstorms developed late in the evening of July 22nd across northeast Illinois and continued into the morning of July 23rd. Numerous thunderstorms moved over the same areas across portions of Lake County, producing torrential rain and flash flooding.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed late in the evening of July 22nd across northeast Illinois and continued into the morning of July 23rd. Numerous thunderstorms moved over the same areas across portions of Lake County, producing torrential rain and flash flooding. Large hail also occurred. Three tornadoes occurred in the southern suburbs of Chicago just after sunrise. Additional thunderstorms developed during the morning and continued into the afternoon of July 23rd, producing isolated large hail and wind damage.
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, 7:47 PM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL 847 PM CDT Fri Jul 22 2022 .UPDATE... Issued at 847 PM CDT Fri Jul 22 2022 No changes planned to tonight's forecast with the evening update. Fairly widespread coverage of showers and thunderstorms still expected across the CWA overnight with threat of locally heavy rainfall and perhaps a localized flash flood threat, with a lesser threat of strong to severe thunderstorms. GOES-16 simple water vapor RGB early this evening nicely depicts shortwave trough moving across northern Nebraska/southern South Dakota. Ahead of this trough, evening soundings from ILX and DVN confirm the SPC mesoanalysis depiction of a large reservoir of steep lapse rates aloft across the Cornbelt and mid-Mississippi Valley. Already saw some widely scattered highly elevated convection develop across northern IL earlier this evening on the periphery of this pool of very steep lapse rates. Significant north-south oriented low level moisture gradient exists between our CWA and central IA. Very dry low levels locally, with recent ACARS soundings showing 925mb and 850mb dewpoints in the single digits, while upstream evening RAOBs at DVN, OAX, and MPX showing substantially more moist low level air mass. As shortwave trough over the central Plains tracks east toward the region tonight, should see 35-45kt west southwesterly low level jet develop from the central plains east across Iowa and pointed into northern IL/southern WI by later tonight. While the magnitude of the low level jet is not expected to be off the charts, it will be blowing orthogonal to the very sharp low level moisture/theta-e gradient resulting in strong low level theta-e advection overnight into northern IL and southern WI. This will be taking place beneath the plume of steep lapse rates aloft, with MUCAPE values near or just above 2000 j/kg overnight. Forecast soundings generally show fairly modest shear in the cloud bearing layer. Given the steep lapse rates, would anticipate a threat for marginally severe hail with the initial convective development tonight. Anticipate that the coverage of convection will ramp up pretty quickly late this evening into the early portions of the overnight hours. Dry air aloft and resultant DCAPE should result in cold pool development as convective coverage increases. Would anticipate MCS to become cold pool dominant given the modest shear and with forward propogating Corfidi vectors generally 20-25kt, a widespread damaging wind threat appears unlikely. Certainly with the high DCAPE, more robust updraft could produce some wet microbursts and perhaps isolated wind damage threat. Overall severe threat overnight appears on the low end of the spectrum, in line with SPC marginal (level 1 of 5) risk. Finally, potential does exist for locally heavy rainfall and perhaps some flash flooding later tonight especially as MCS likely becomes more organized and low level jet veers more westerly and resulting in shrinking Corfidi vectors and potential for upwind development/propagation and perhaps some training, particularly given the upstream moisture/instability that the low level jet should continue to feed into the western flanks of the MCS. While moisture and forcing appear sufficient to support a heavy rainfall/local flash flood threat, none of the parameters are really maxing out on the high end of the spectrum. PWATS are forecast to reach 1.5-1.7 inches by late tonight, which is sufficient for heavy rainfall, but not particularly noteworthy for July in the Midwest. Given somewhat modest parameter space we're in for heavy rainfall, not planning a flash flood watch tonight, despite some risk for heavy and potentially excessive rainfall. Biggest uncertainty at this point is exactly when and where exactly convection will develop. Not surprisingly given its elevated convection, there is some spread in the CAMs. At this point, it will turn to more of a nowcasting issues and will be closely monitoring satellite imagery this evening for signs of blossoming ACCAS field. Given the expected orientation of the low level jet and current satellite imagery, NE Iowa/southwest WI area seems like a prime candidate for area of initial develop later this evening, but confidence on precisely when/where is low. Once convection develops and congeals into an MCS, would anticipate a southeastward motion given the orientation of the instability gradient. Will freshen up forecast products, but no big changes anticipated at this point. - Izzi && .SHORT TERM... Issued at 254 PM CDT Fri Jul 22 2022 Through Saturday... The main weather bullet points through Saturday afternoon consist of: * Increasing likelihood of shower and thunderstorm development tonight into Saturday morning. * Associated threat of at least a localized flash flood and strong to severe wind gust threat overnight. * Uncertain coverage of morning showers and embedded storms and subsequent impact on afternoon heat indices. Some potential for peak heat index readings near or in excess of 105 degrees during the afternoon. Conditions are relatively tranquil across our forecast area early this afternoon, and notably more comfortable than yesterday as dewpoints have managed to mix out into the mid 50s and lower 60s. Upstream, a very weak/subtle shortwave is translating across Iowa along the northern periphery of an appreciably-steep zone of mid- level lapse rates. This feature will push into northern Illinois through late this afternoon and early evening. A dearth of low- level moisture means we're not expecting much in the way of precipitation, but the presence of a little instability aloft suggests there's some potential for a few spits of light rain. Can't entirely discount a stray lightning strike if this activity materializes, but thunder chances overall appear quite low. Things should stay pretty quiet during the mid to late evening across our forecast area, but attention will quickly be turning to eastern Iowa as a stronger shortwave--currently pivoting out of South Dakota--encourages an increase in the low-level mass response. A 30-40 kt west to southwesterly low-level jet is forecast to impinge upon the aforementioned lapse rate plume after 10-11 PM. While atmospheric moisture from an absolute perspective isn't terribly high with PWATs initially in the 1.5-1.7 inch range, guidance does suggest these will climb more notably towards 2 inches late tonight and early Saturday morning. The character of ascent via isentropic upglide is broad and at least modestly strong--at times very strong--especially above the 305-310 K theta surfaces. This suggests at least scattered convection should have no trouble initiating to our north and west late this evening before meandering east and southward within the mean flow. The degree of initial sub-cloud dry air suggests at least some propensity for any loosely-organized complex to attempt to develop gusty outflow and surge a bit south and eastward which could help limit the potential for net stationary/upwind propagating cells. However, given the orientation of and persistence of warm and moist upglide through the night, still concerned that regenerative development will occur, leading to cells potentially tracking over the same areas repeatedly leading rain totals stacking up quickly. In typical fashion, confidence in placing these mesoscale features and any favored training zone is much too low to warrant hoisting a flood watch, and it's possible this threat remains somewhat localized. As such, we will be highlighting the flooding potential within graphics and our HWO. Of additional note is the potential for some of these storms to pose a localized damaging wind potential. Given the elevated nature of convection, effective deep shear isn't terribly high (near 25-30 kts), but MUCAPE increasing to 2000-2500 J/kg and the increasingly moist airmass indicates a potential for strong precip-loaded downdrafts. Whether damaging gusts will be able to make it through the stabilizing nocturnal boundary layer remains to be seen, but with high-res guidance explicitly modeling severe or near-severe wind gusts, think the potential for at least isolated pockets of damaging winds exists even with the typically unfavorable time of night. How expansive rain and storms are into Saturday morning is a big wildcard, with guidance that develops more expansive cold pools shoving outflow well south and helping to scour things out a bit more quickly. For some of the reasons indicated above, however, am skeptical of the solutions that are totally dry as WAA/upglide is forecast to persist through the morning hours and even into the early-afternoon. For now, have smeared some low-end PoPs across the forecast area through mid-afternoon. Deep layer shear will be weakening (briefly) during the afternoon, but with additional arriving boundary layer moisture, MUCAPE will build, so if activity does indeed continue to fester Saturday afternoon, it'll need to be monitored for a gusty wind and continued flooding threat. Finally, while high temperatures remain a big wild card on Saturday owing to the potential for expansive stratus and rain/storms into the morning, there's higher confidence in deeper surface moisture arriving during the afternoon. If things scour out more quickly than currently anticipated allowing air temperatures to rise faster, heat indices will jump above 105 degrees, especially south of I-80. However, given the current expectations of greatly delayed insolation, confidence is simply too low to justify the issuance of a Heat Advisory. The current gridded guidance will reflect a very brief period of 100-104 degree heat indices south and west of a Rockford to Joliet to Rensselaer line for now. Carlaw && .LONG TERM... Issued at 349 PM CDT Fri Jul 22 2022 Saturday night through Friday... The primary concern beyond Saturday afternoon is the potential for severe weather and flooding Saturday evening into Sunday. Thereafter, additional rain and thunderstorms are expected to arrive towards the middle of the upcoming workweek. Saturday's synoptic setup will initially feature a region of surface low pressure over the Dakotas that will track northeastward into Minnesota by Saturday afternoon and eventually reach the western Great Lakes sometime Saturday evening. A cold front extending to the southwest of the surface low will push eastward in tandem with the low while a warm front will be draped off to its southeast, likely moving northeastward through our CWA sometime around the early evening after convection from earlier in the day staved off its earlier attempted northeastward advances. An upper shortwave trough currently located over the Pacific Northwest will zip eastward into the Upper Midwest during the day on Saturday and help foster convective development along the cold front. This convection is expected to grow upscale into an MCS that will track eastward and/or southeastward towards our longitude with a fair likelihood that it could at least clip a portion of our CWA before it weakens later in the night. The main uncertainties with this probable MCS at this point revolve around the exact track that it will take and where/when it will start to weaken. While deep layer shear vectors will be oriented in a more west-east direction where the core of the MCS is likely to materialize and track through, Corfidi downshear propagation vectors, cloud layer thickness gradient orientation, and the presence of a northwest-southeast oriented warm front for convection to ride along lead to concerns that at least part of the MCS will take a more southeasterly path that will send it into at least the northern portions of our CWA with an inherent damaging wind threat. If the MCS does impact our CWA, it would likely not be until after sunset, by which point, nocturnal stabilization will be in the process of introducing an increasing amount of convective inhibition with time that would be expected to weaken the MCS as it progresses farther east and south into our CWA. However, a burgeoning low-level jet could help offset the increasing stability and allow for the severe thunderstorm threat to continue deeper into the night given the continued presence of a robust cold pool. All in all, the SPC's Day 2 Convective Outlook is an excellent reflection of our current overall thoughts on Saturday night's severe potential with the brunt of the severe threat likely to remain to our north and northwest, the best chances for severe weather to occur in our CWA being located in our northernmost tier of counties along the Illinois-Wisconsin stateline (where a Slight (level 2/5) Risk has been introduced with the most recent outlook), and increasing uncertainty with the sustainment of severe convection further south in our CWA where the Marginal (level 1/5) Risk is present. On top of the severe thunderstorm potential, there will also a threat for at least localized flash flooding Saturday night into Sunday. PWATs will be pushing 2 inches out ahead of the incoming cold front and will support efficient downpours within any thunderstorm that moves through our forecast area. General storm motion is expected to be easterly or east-southeasterly beneath a west-southwesterly low-level jet, so if the composite outflow laid out by the MCS or other nocturnal convection in the area takes on at least a somewhat west-east orientation, there is concern that training convection could occur and lead to at least localized flash flooding as the low-level jet continues to regenerate convection overnight across our forecast area. This would especially be true if storms train over wherever heavy rain fell Friday night/Saturday morning. This flooding threat could then persist into the daytime on Sunday, though would continue to shift southward with time as the composite outflow boundary continues to sink farther south. There is also a low potential for a renewed severe weather threat Sunday afternoon with our southeastern counties being most favored for that, though the expected ongoing convection and associated cloud cover casts some doubts as to whether we'll be able to destabilize enough to get robust convection to develop either along the leading outflow boundary or the trailing cold front. By Monday, the cold front should have sagged far enough south where any precipitation traversing the frontal zone should remain south of our CWA while high pressure moves over the Great Lakes. The next shot at precipitation is expected to come towards the middle of the week as a low pressure system deepens across southern Canada and thrusts a cold front through the Midwest while also forcing the baroclinic zone associated with the aforementioned front back northward. The NBM currently advertises daily PoPs in at least part of our CWA from Tuesday onward with the best precipitation chances coming on Wednesday before things dry out behind the cold front by the end of the week. While it's plausible that rain could be seen somewhere in our CWA each day during this period, there is still a non-trivial spread amongst long range forecast guidance regarding the exact timing of the mid-week cold frontal passage and whether the baroclinic zone to our south will lift into our CWA prior to the arrival of the cold front. Thus, refinements to the going precipitation forecast for this upcoming week will likely need to be made in the coming days as forecast trends pertaining to the placement and timing of these frontal boundaries become clearer. Ogorek && .AVIATION... For the 00Z TAFs... 709 PM...Forecast concerns include... Isolated thunderstorms early this evening. Scattered thunderstorms early Saturday morning. Chance of thunderstorms Saturday night. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms have developed late this afternoon as a weak upper wave moves across the area. This activity is high based, 10kft or higher and moving along quickly. Thunder is expected to stay isolated but opted to carry vicinity thunder through 02z for the Chicago terminals. Possible this activity will end prior to 02z. Additional thunderstorms are expected to develop over eastern IA and northwest IL late this evening and then spread southeast across northern IL and the terminals during the early morning hours on Saturday. Guidance remains in reasonable agreement for thunderstorms to become fairly widespread for a few hours and current timing seems on track. Some of this activity may be strong, with wind gusts into the 30-40kt range along with very heavy rain. Possible for both ifr vis and cigs where heavy rain persists. There is some potential for scattered thunderstorms to continue through mid morning Saturday but confidence remains low. Maintained prob mention for now but its possible this time period may end up being dry. Saturday afternoon is looking mainly dry with additional thunderstorm development possible mid/late Saturday evening. Confidence is low for how much coverage and how strong this activity will end up being. Added prob mention for later Saturday evening in the ord/mdw tafs for now. Generally south/southwest winds through the period, but there could be short periods of southeast winds behind thunderstorms, particularly Saturday morning. Some gusts into the 15-20kt range are possible early this evening and again on Saturday. cms && .LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. IN...None. LM...None. && Visit us at weather.gov/chicago Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube at: www.facebook.com/NWSChicago www.twitter.com/NWSChicago www.youtube.com/NWSChicago
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville IL
951 PM CDT Fri Jul 22 2022
ILZ003>006-008-010>013-019>021-023-032-033-039-103>108-INZ001-002-
010-011-019-240300-
Winnebago-Boone-McHenry-Lake IL-Ogle-Lee-De Kalb-Kane-DuPage-
La Salle-Kendall-Grundy-Kankakee-Livingston-Iroquois-Ford-
Northern Cook-Central Cook-Southern Cook-Northern Will-
Southern Will-Eastern Will-Lake IN-Porter-Newton-Jasper-Benton-
951 PM CDT Fri Jul 22 2022 /1051 PM EDT Fri Jul 22 2022/
This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Central
Illinois...Northeast Illinois and Northwest Indiana.
.DAY ONE...Tonight.
Weather hazards expected...
Elevated Thunderstorm Risk...with an associated:
Limited hail risk...up to nickel size.
Limited damaging wind risk...up to 60 mph.
Limited Flooding Risk.
DISCUSSION...
Thunderstorms are likely overnight. The strongest storms will
pose a threat for strong to locally damaging wind gusts, as well
as small hail. In addition, heavy rainfall will likely accompany
any storms, and a localized flash flood threat may develop for
areas that experience repeated occurrences of thunderstorms.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.
Saturday...
Limited Severe Thunderstorm Risk.
Elevated Flooding Risk Saturday night.
Limited Excessive Heat Risk.
Sunday...
Limited Severe Thunderstorm Risk.
Limited Excessive Heat Risk.
Monday and Tuesday...
Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
Wednesday and Thursday...
Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
DISCUSSION:
A complex of thunderstorms may move into the region out of Iowa
and Wisconsin late Saturday afternoon and evening. While these
storms may be on a gradual weakening trend, a threat for damaging
wind gusts may persist, especially for locales near and north of
Interstate 88. Locally heavy rainfall amounts will also be
possible, which could lead to additional instances of flash
flooding.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
Spotters may be needed tonight.
GENERAL STORM MOTION OF THE DAY:
Moving toward the east-southeast at 35 mph.
LMZ740>745-240300-
Winthrop Harbor to Wilmette Harbor IL-
Wilmette Harbor to Northerly Island IL-
Northerly Island to Calumet Harbor IL-
Calumet Harbor IL to Gary IN-Gary to Burns Harbor IN-
Burns Harbor to Michigan City IN-
951 PM CDT Fri Jul 22 2022
This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of the Illinois
nearshore waters of Lake Michigan and the Indiana nearshore
waters of Lake Michigan.
.DAY ONE...Tonight.
Weather hazards expected...
Elevated Thunderstorm Risk...with an associated:
Limited hail risk...up to nickel size.
Limited thunderstorm wind gust risk...up to 50 knots.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.
Saturday and Sunday...
Hazardous conditions for small craft are likely.
Limited Severe Thunderstorm Risk.
Tuesday through Thursday...
Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
- Izzi
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www.youtube.com/nwschicagoThe Chicago radar (KLOT), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:02 UTC.
17 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 4 tornado, 3 flood, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple reports of hail ranging from a half inch to one inch were received from northeast Chicago, including photos shared on social media of quarter size hail from the Irving Park neighborhood.
Trees and large tree limbs were blown.
Multiple reports of nickel to quarter size hail were received from Lake Villa.
Multiple reports of nickel to quarter size hail were received from McHenry.
Golf ball size hail was reported in Lakemoor, which broke exterior lights. A photo was shared on social media of half dollar size hail.
Trees were blown down and roof shingles were blown off.
Multiple reports of penny to quarter size hail were received from Mundelein.
Route 134 was closed between Wilson Road and Cambridge Parkway due to a fallen tree.
A photo shared on social media showed quarter size hail in Round Lake.
A photo shared on social media showed quarter size hail in Round Lake Beach.
A photo shared on social media showed 1.5 inch diameter hail in Grayslake.
A photo shared on social media showed quarter size hail in Park City.
Numerous thunderstorms moved across Lake County during the early morning of July 23rd, producing torrential rain which led to flash flooding across east central portions of the county. Many roads were flooded and closed in Lake Bluff with several feet of water reported on some roads. Route 41 was closed between Route 137 and Route 176 where major flooding was reported. Several vehicles in Lake Bluff, Lake Forest and Highland Park got stuck in the flooding on roadways. Water rescues were performed along the North Shore. Basement flooding was reported in the Lake Bluff area. Interstate 94 was closed near Park Avenue due to flooding. Route 45 was closed at Casey Road due to flooding. The Deerfield High School track was flooded with a few feet of water. Storm total rainfall amounts included 6.68 inches in Lake Bluff; 6.60 inches in Zion; 5.74 inches in Libertyville; 5.54 inches in Lake Forest; 5.12 inches in Deerfield; 4.72 inches in Highwood; 4.34 inches in Mundelein; 4.32 inches in Vernon Hills and 4.26 inches at the Waukegan Airport.
Several 3 inch diameter tree limbs were blown down in Polo, along with one 20 foot long, 6 inch diameter tree limb.
A road was closed due to a fallen tree at Old McHenry and Cuba Roads.
A video shared on social media showed several large tree limbs blown down.
Several trees and tree limbs 4 to 6 inches in diameter were blown down.
Large tree limbs were blown down.
A couple of tree limbs about 3 to 6 inches in diameter were blown down near the Northern Illinois University coop station.
A tornado with peak winds of 85 mph touched down just north of the DuPage Will County line on the northwest side of the White Eagle Golf Course where it produced tree damage. The tornado then moved southeast and crossed into Will County.
A tornado with peak winds of 85 mph touched down just north of the DuPage Will County line and moved southeast through the White Eagle Golf Course. Approximately a dozen golf carts were damaged, several softwood trees were snapped and numerous tree limbs were blown down. The tornado was likely at peak intensity of 85 mph when it moved through the golf course. The tornado continued southeast crossing Route 59, just north of 95th Street. Several small trees were snapped and some roofing material was blown off a shopping plaza at the intersection of Route 59 and 95th Street. Bleachers were tossed and fencing was blown down near Neuqua Valley High School. The tornado produced sporadic tree damage as it continued southeast through residential areas, east of Route 59. The tornado lifted near 119th Street and Book Road.
A tornado with peak winds of 70 mph touched down along Pinnacle Drive, just north of Renwick Road. A construction camera at Lewis University Airport showed the tornado likely lifted then briefly touched down as it moved south into the Prairie Bluff Forest Preserve south of Renwick Road before lifting again. The tornado touched down again near the Statesville Correctional Center where it caused minor tree damage. The tornado continued moving south across Caton Farm Road and entered a residential area of Crest Hill. A concentrated area of damage including several uprooted trees and numerous broken tree limbs was found in the vicinity of Elsie and Highland Avenues. The tornado paralleled Highland Avenue and Clement Street as it crossed into the far north side of Joliet, where it produced sporadic tree limb damage. Numerous trees were damaged in the Mount Moriah Cemetery and the tornado lifted just southeast of the cemetery.
Large tree limbs were blown down.
A photo was shared on social media of a large tree limb that was snapped off a tree near 177th Street and 65th Court.
An underpass was flooded and impassible in Elmhurst. Measured rainfall of 2.47 inches was reported in one hour between 4:15 am and 5:15 am CST.
Several inches of water was reported on Interstate 55 at Pulaski Road.
A brief tornado with peak winds of 75 mph touched down just north of the intersection of Baker Road and Route 52. The tornado moved south along Route 52 producing sporadic tree damage. Minor roof damage occurred to a building south of Baker Road and east of Route 52. The tornado lifted just north of White Feather Drive.
A concentrated area of tree damage occurred near Route 45 and Monee-Manhattan Road.
Several large tree limbs were blown down.
A photo shared on social media showed quarter size hail.
After torrential rains and flash flooding during the early morning of July 23rd, flooding continued across portions of east central Lake County into July 24th.
Several reports of nickel to quarter size hail were received from the south side of Naperville.
Trees were blown down.
Golf ball size hail was reported south of Fairbury, which damaged corn.
A tree was blown down on Pine Street.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 2022Warnings in Illinois, July 2022
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: 1040573, 1040575, 1040623, 1040627, 1040632, 1040691, 1040658, 1040648, 1040683, 1040688, 1040689, 1040701, 1040692, 1040694, 1041737, 1040706, 1040724, 1040725, 1039302, 1040731, 1040729, 1040726, 1040735, 1041750, 1041752, 1041749, 1040737, 1040739, 1041732, 1041758, 1041748, 1040742, 1040743, 1040744, 1041745, 1040745, 1040746, 1040748, 1040751, 1040749.