Indiana, 2026

Damaging Winds in Indiana, June 6, 2026

June 6, 2026 · NWS LOT · 3 events in 1 county or zone

Scattered thunderstorms moved across northwest Indiana during the early afternoon of June 6th producing isolated wind damage.

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.

Scattered thunderstorms moved across northwest Indiana during the early afternoon of June 6th producing isolated wind damage.

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 Jun 6, 12:31 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • Shower and thunderstorm threat this afternoon-evening will focus primarily south of I-80, though showers and a few storms will also be possible near the lake breeze pushing inland.
  • While there will be daily shower and thunderstorm chances through the upcoming week, expect plenty of dry hours. Outside of the convective chances, it will be very warm and humid (focused away from the lake until Tuesday).
Area forecast discussion, Jun 6, 12:31 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL
1231 PM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Shower and thunderstorm threat this afternoon-evening will
  focus primarily south of I-80, though showers and a few storms
  will also be possible near the lake breeze pushing inland.

- While there will be daily shower and thunderstorm chances
  through the upcoming week, expect plenty of dry hours. Outside
  of the convective chances, it will be very warm and humid
  (focused away from the lake until Tuesday).

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 326 AM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

Early This Morning:

Scattered thunderstorm development overhead in the pre-dawn
hours (as of this writing) is associated with convectively
modulated impulses and a glancing blow from a stronger short-
wave pushing into the northern Lakes. It's unclear to what
extent additional upstream convection from western WI to
western/west central IL will push into the area over the next
few hours. We'll need to continue to monitor for a few strong
to potentially severe storms (wind and hail threat) given fairly
steep mid-level lapse rates and 30-40 kt of effective bulk shear.

Today through Sunday:

In the wake of the early morning convection, aside from a few
lingering isolated to widely scattered storms south of I-80,
conditions should dry out areawide for a time. Fairly strong
mid-level subsidence and drying, particularly north of I-80,
casts doubt on much in the way of renewed PM thunderstorm
development with northward extent in the CWA. The possible
exception will be near a lake breeze boundary as it pushes
inland across the Chicago metro this afternoon. Farther south,
primarily south of I-80 (possibly well south), uncapped,
moderately to strongly unstable air mass should yield corridors
of scattered "airmass" type thunderstorms. With mid-level lapse
rates decreasing to 6C/km or less and deep layer shear down to
25 kt or less, overall severe threat appears limited, likely
relegated to localized strong to perhaps severe downburst winds.
If a corridor of robust convection is able to persist into or
through the evening despite modest at best forcing, high PWATs
and high freezing levels could support localized flooding
(albeit in our typically less flood prone southern areas).

Given expectation of increasing sunshine this afternoon,
especially with northward extent, look for highs inland of the
lake breeze in the mid to upper 80s amidst dew points in the 60s
to around 70F. Near the lake, highs will reach the mid 70s to
around 80F ahead of the lake breeze and then slowly but steadily
fall thereafter.

After festering evening storms primarily south of I-80 erode
diurnally, there should be a relative lull overnight into
Sunday. The lake shadow will extend farther inland on Sunday,
confining isolated to widely scattered pulse airmass convection
at peak heating to the southwestern 1/3 to 1/2 or so of the
CWA. Sub- marginal wind shear and lapse rates suggest severe
weather is unlikely. Highs will reach the lower to mid 80s
inland, but only upper 60s to lower 70s near the lake.

Sunday Night Onward:

Weakening mid-upper low/short-wave will shear out on Sunday
night into Monday as it encounters robust ridging centered over
the eastern Lakes by then. Nonetheless, weakly capped tropics-
like airmass should support fairly widespread showers and at
least scattered storms developing as early as midday Monday
(unless debris cloudiness proves too detrimental to sufficient
destabilization). Southeasterly synoptic flow and lake breeze
reinforcement will keep IL shoreline locations in the 70s on
Monday, while the rest of the area reaches the low-mid 80s.

Looking ahead at the rest of next workweek, there have been some
guidance members with sufficiently strong mid-level ridging and
low-level thermal ridging poking into the Great Lakes region for
a few days of very warm (locally hot) and humid conditions. With
that said, the more likely scenario is our area being on the
precarious northwestern periphery of ridging centered near the
East Coast. This should entail less capping and a continuation
of shower and thunderstorm chances. By later in the week
(Thursday or thereabouts), seasonably strong troughing from the
north central US to central Canada could plausibly yield a
pattern supportive of organized strong to severe convection into
the region.

Note that the NBM depicted temperatures centered Tuesday through
Friday (most notably on Wednesday and Thursday) are well
outside of the ensemble spectrum due to likely spurious upward
bias correction. Thus we will withhold from any heat messaging
locally. It looks to be very warm and humid, but not hazardously
so, per the current global ensemble guidance consensus.

Castro

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY/...
Issued at 1231 PM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

Key Aviation Messages for the current TAF period:

- A lake breeze arrival this afternoon will shift winds to the
  east-northeast

- Isolated thunderstorms near the lake breeze this afternoon,
  but better chances for thunder to the south of the Chicago
  Metro

Currently, conditions are VFR with light southerly winds.
However, A lake breeze has already started to move inland away
from the lake. Winds will switch to the northeast behind it with
winds 5 to 10 knots.

Isolated showers and storms are expected this afternoon. However,
the better coverage of thunderstorms is expected south of a KSQI
to KVPZ line. That being said, the previously mentioned lake
breeze could be enough forcing to trigger convection that could
develop into at least a shower if not a thunderstorm near the
terminals. While confidence is lower in any one cell directly
passing over a terminal, the PROB30 was converted the -SHRA
mention to the -TSRA given the amount of instability present on
an already warm June afternoon. Chances for showers and thunder
diminish after 23Z. Light northeast winds will slowly become
more easterly tomorrow morning.

DK

&&

.LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IL...None.
IN...None.
LM...None.

&&

Visit us at weather.gov/chicago
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 6, 12:13 PM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville IL
1213 PM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

ILZ003>006-008-010>013-019>021-023-032-033-039-103>108-INZ001-002-
010-011-019-071715-
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-
1213 PM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026 /113 PM EDT Sat Jun 6 2026/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central
Illinois...northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.

.DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight.

Weather hazards expected...

  Limited Thunderstorm Risk...with an associated:
     Level 1 of 5 Damaging Wind Risk...up to 60 mph.
     Level 1 of 5 Large Hail Risk...up to quarter size.
  Limited Flooding Risk south of I-80.

DISCUSSION...

Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected to redevelop
this afternoon and continue into this evening. The greatest
coverage of storms is expected to be south of I-80, where the
strongest storms may produce localized strong to damaging winds,
hail, and torrential rainfall.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday.

Sunday through Friday...
  Limited Thunderstorm and associated Flooding Risks at times.

DISCUSSION...

The weather pattern will continue to feature seasonably warm and
humid conditions through next week, with periodic shower and
thunderstorm chances. Some of the storms will be capable of
producing torrential downpours, which may lead to localized
flooding.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

  Spotter activation is unlikely today.

GENERAL STORM MOTION OF THE DAY:

  Moving toward the east-southeast at 20 to 30 mph.

LMZ740>745-071715-
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-
1213 PM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

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...This Afternoon and Tonight.

Weather hazards expected...

  Limited Thunderstorm Risk.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday.

Sunday through Friday...
  Limited Thunderstorm Risk.

Ogorek

Visit us at www.weather.gov/chicago

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 6, 8:59 AM EST, 5 hours 9 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
859 AM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0453 AM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Pontiac                 40.88N 88.63W
06/06/2026                   Livingston         IL   911 Call Center

            Wires and trees down reported. Time
            estimated by radar.

&&

DK
Local storm report, Jun 6, 9:00 AM EST, 5 hours 8 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
900 AM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0515 AM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Fairbury                40.75N 88.51W
06/06/2026                   Livingston         IL   911 Call Center

            Reports of a tree down. Time estimated by
            radar.

&&

DK
Local storm report, Jun 6, 9:12 AM EST, 4 hours 56 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
912 AM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0656 AM     Rain             Cornell                 40.99N 88.73W
06/06/2026  M3.50 Inch       Livingston         IL   Broadcast Media

            Storm total rainfall.

&&

DK
Local storm report, Jun 6, 9:15 AM EST, 4 hours 53 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
915 AM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0659 AM     Rain             1 NNW Pontiac           40.90N 88.64W
06/06/2026  M2.08 Inch       Livingston         IL   Public

            Storm total rainfall.

&&

DK
Local storm report, Jun 6, 9:16 AM EST, 4 hours 52 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
916 AM CDT Sat Jun 6 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0722 AM     Rain             1 S Chatsworth          40.74N 88.29W
06/06/2026  M2.04 Inch       Livingston         IL   Public

            Storm total rainfall.

&&

DK

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Benton

When
June 6, 2:08 PM EST
Where
Benton County, 1.8 mi NNE of Fowler
Measured
60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
40.643, -87.304

Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph.

Thunderstorm Wind, Benton

When
June 6, 2:10 PM EST
Where
Benton County, Fowler
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
40.620, -87.320

Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph with power lines blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Benton

When
June 6, 2:15 PM EST
Where
Benton County, 1.38 mi N of Fowler
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
40.640, -87.324

Multiple utility poles were blown down on Route 55.

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

More

Every storm in Indiana in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, June 2026

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: 1333736, 1333738, 1333740.