Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2023
EF0 tornado, Spaulding to Park Ridge, Illinois, July 12, 2023
From Spaulding to Park Ridge, this EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Cook County on July 12, 2023, touching down at 6:41 PM CDT and reaching 80 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- July 12, 2023
- Touchdown
- 6:41 PM CDT (23:41 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:42 PM CDT (23:42 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
- Path width
- 80 yards (73 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Cook County
- Touchdown point
- 42.012, -88.154
- Lift-off point
- 42.014, -88.145
- Record number
- 2307121741-01
The damage survey
122 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LOT, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.
- Outer edge of leaf debris, twigs
- Approximate start point, per EM drone footage
- Tall grass and reeds blown down in different directions
- Damage to garage doors, siding, roofs
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
During the evening of July 12, scattered thunderstorms dropped 13 tornadoes across far northeast Illinois, primarily within the west of northwest suburbs of Chicago. Of these 13 tornadoes, three were determined to be EF-1 with the remaining 10 being EF-0.
This tornado started in a farm field east of Kendall Road and continued eastward through Elgin. Damage along the path of the tornado consisted of snapped trees and tree limbs, especially between Bowes Bend Drive and Randall Road. Damage to roofs, siding, and walls of homes, a garage, and a farm building was also noted near Bowes Bend Drive and Longcommon Parkway. The roof of a church was also damaged near Nesler Road. The storm crossed into Cook County on the southwest side of Bluff Spring Fen. The tornado appeared to lift near the intersection of Gifford Road and Lake Street.
A brief EF-0 tornado began near the intersection of Yorkshire Dr. and Phoenix Lake Ave. in Streamwood and tracked east for about half a mile before lifting as it crossed Barrington Rd. This tornado stripped siding off of two walls at the Portillo's at Ramblewood Dr. and Barrington Rd. while also causing some tree damage and blowing around light debris along its track. Tree damage also continued east of Barrington Rd. into Hanover Park, though witness accounts and the broadening nature of a predominantly southwest to northeast oriented damage field suggest that this damage was caused by strong southwesterly straight-line winds of up to 75 mph that descended to ground level right as the tornado was lifting.
A brief, weak EF-0 tornado touched down near Jane Addams Junior High School in Schaumburg and tracked east for a little over a mile before lifting as it approached Salem Dr. This tornado produced sporadic and mostly minor tree damage along its track.
This EF-0 touched down on the far northeast side of Itasca near the intersection of Prospect Ave and Thorndale Ave. It then tracked east-northeastward through a large industrial park in Wood Dale, Bensenville, and Elk Grove Village, where it caused minor damage to the roofs and fascia of a few warehouses and sporadic tree damage, which was most concentrated and severe near the intersection of Lively Blvd. and Kirk St. Eyewitness reports suggest that the tornado may have lifted intermittently along its track before it lifted for good east of Elmhurst Rd. over the far northwest side of O���Hare Airport.
After the first tornado in the O'Hare area lifted, a second EF-0 tornado touched down within the confines of O'Hare Airport just south of the I-90 overpass over Touhy Ave. The tornado initially caused minor roofing and fascia damage to buildings and warehouses on the far north side of the airport. Minor tree damage also occurred in this area, and a parked car was impaled by debris that was thrown by the tornado. The tornado then tracked east across I-90 and into Rosemont, where it blew over a light pole and ticket booths in the Allstate Arena parking lot and caused damage to trees and signs along Mannheim Rd. Video footage taken in Rosemont showed the tornado (which did not necessarily have a fully condensed cloud-to-ground funnel at all times) track into a residential area on the southeast side of Des Plaines, where it produced a concentrated area of tree damage, caused minor roofing and fascia damage to some houses, and caused a few power poles to lean. The tornado may have lost contact with the ground as it crossed the Des Plaines River, but it eventually touched down again in Park Ridge, where it produced tree damage in a neighborhood east of Maine South High School before lifting for good.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Jul 12, 3:04 PM CDT, 3 hours 37 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 3:04 PM CDT, 3 hours 37 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL
304 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
.MESOSCALE DISCUSSION...
Issued at 300 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
...THREAT FOR STRONG TORNADOES THIS EVENING...
A recent hand surface analysis places a compact meso-low pressure
system centered near Gutenberg, Iowa just north of a surface warm
front stretching from near Dubuque, Iowa southeastward across
Freeport, Aurora, and Valparaiso. Meanwhile, a cold fronts
stretches from near Galena, Illinois to Washington, Iowa. Ahead of
the MCV and south of the warm front, filtered sunshine within an
airmass characterized by pooling surface dew points in the lower
70s is leading to quickly- increasing instability with RAP-
analyzed MLCAPE already exceeding 1000 J/kg ahead of the cold
front. Meanwhile, augmented flow around the periphery of the MCV
is leading to a strongly sheared low- to mid- level kinematic
environment, with both the KLOT/KDVN VWPs showing some 50 kt of
0-6km shear. In fact, locally backed winds along the warm front is
contributing to nearly 40kt of 0-500m shear and 250+ J/kg of
0-500m SRH roughly from Rockford to Romeoville. Such high values
of low-level SRH are relatively rare for our local area for this
time of year.
Over the next few hours, explosive thunderstorm development appears
likely near the Mississippi River with the favorable thermodynamic
and kinematic parameter space supporting a quick evolution into
several supercells. Damaging winds and hail are likely with any
storm. Perhaps more concerning, Bunker's right storm motion along
the warm front will provide unusually long residence times within
the high-magnitude low-level SRH environment, supporting an
unusually high threat for episodic strong tornadoes (EF2+) for our
local area. Extrapolating the location of the warm front, such a
threat appears highest from near Rockford to the Chicago
metropolitan areas between 4 and 8 PM CDT.
Stay weather aware this afternoon and evening. Have multiple ways to
get warnings. And, be ready to take cover in the most
interior, lowest level of your building.
Borchardt
&&
.SHORT TERM...
Issued at 300 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
Through Thursday night...
* Severe weather, including a threat for damaging tornadoes, is
expected this afternoon through mid evening. Flash flooding is
also possible, especially in urban areas.
More details on this afternoon and evening's severe weather threat
are addressed in the Mesoscale Discussion above.
Looking ahead to tonight, in the wake of the evening thunderstorms,
residual low-level moisture could result in at least patchy fog
and/or low-stratus development across the area. Due to some
uncertainty with whether this ends up as mainly stratus vs fog,
opted to hold off on a formal gridded forecast mention. A few
light showers and a rumble of thunder will be possible across the
southern fringes of our forecast area toward central Illinois.
Thursday overall looks quiet for most areas. Cannot rule out a few
spotty showers and storms late morning into the afternoon but most
areas should remain dry. Temperatures top out in the lower 80s with
70s expected along the lakeshore.
Petr
&&
.LONG TERM...
Issued at 300 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
Friday through Wednesday...
By the time we get to Friday, our main influencer for our weather
will continue to be a low-pressure system right over the Hudson Bay.
We will also have a little shortwave and potentially, a weak cold
front come through the area. That, along with the low will be our
main forcing mechanisms, and will contribute to more episodes of
potential showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening
hours on Friday. Friday will also be a humid day, due to
temperatures in the lower 80s, and dews getting into the mid 70s.
The NAM also has precipitable water values getting close or up to
the 2 inch margins, so there certainly will be room for high
rainfall rates. The jet stream from this flow pattern is likely
going to stick with us in the near term through mid next week,
which will contribute to the possibility for on and off showers
and thunderstorms.
The low centered over the Hudson Bay will proceed to move downward
over southern Ontario and into the Lake Superior region. The winds
coming from the northwest, forced by the low will help bring in
slightly cooler air and help keep the higher dew points to the
south. Looking at both the GFS and the EURO, it shows that this
ongoing low and shortwave trough should shift to the east,
reducing our chances for rain and lift our region into the ridge,
bringing chances for hot and dry weather toward the middle of
next week.
Bjork/Yack
&&
.AVIATION...
For the 18Z TAFs...
Forecast concerns for the terminals...
*Waves of showers and thunderstorms moving through this afternoon
with a threat for gusty winds
*Varying wind directions behind storms, but generally favoring a
southerly direction
*Lowering ceilings overnight into Thursday morning with IFR
conditions possible
A line of thunderstorms continues to push eastward across
northeast Illinois as of 1730z, but is expected to clear over the
next hour or two. While a brief lull is expected for a couple
hours early this afternoon, guidance continues to indicate that
the atmosphere should destabilize during this period and allow an
additional round of storms to develop in the 21z to 22z timeframe.
If storms are able to develop, they would move east-southeast
across the terminals through 00z this evening and could contain
gusty winds in excess of 30 kts in addition to some large hail.
However, there is some lingering uncertainty in how far south the
storms would propagate with areas along and north of I-80 most
favored at this time. Given that this favored area includes the
terminals I did add a TEMPO in the TAFs for this thunderstorm
threat.
Otherwise, expect winds to generally be from the south with speeds
around 10 kts this afternoon though some variability in
directions can be expected at times. Winds will become northerly
this evening before turning southeasterly for the Chicago
terminals Thursday morning while other sites remain westerly.
Finally, ceilings are expected to lower behind the storms
overnight due to the lingering moisture. Guidance has continued
to indicate that low-end MVFR to possibly IFR conditions are
expected and should linger into Thursday morning. Though it does
look like conditions should start to improve by mid-morning with
VFR conditions forecast to return by the afternoon. There is also
the chance for isolated showers and/or storms Thursday afternoon,
but confidence in coverage is too low for a formal mention at this
time.
Yack
&&
.LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IL...Flood Watch...ILZ013-ILZ103-ILZ104-ILZ105-ILZ106-ILZ107-ILZ108
until 7 PM Wednesday.
IN...Flood Watch...INZ001 until 7 PM Wednesday.
LM...None.
&&
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www.youtube.com/NWSChicagoHazardous weather outlook, Jul 12, 4:11 PM CDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville IL
411 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
ILZ003>006-008-010>013-019>021-023-032-033-039-103>108-INZ001-002-
010-011-019-132115-
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-
411 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023 /511 PM EDT Wed Jul 12 2023/
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:
Elevated Tornado Risk.
Limited Hail Risk...up to Two Inch Size.
Limited Damaging Wind Risk...up to 70 mph.
Elevated Flooding Risk.
DISCUSSION...
Severe thunderstorms are expected this afternoon and evening
across northern Illinois into northwest Indiana. This includes a
threat of damaging tornadoes. Additional hazards include damaging
wind and hail. Localized areas of flash flooding, especially in
urban areas, are also possible.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.
Thursday...
Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
Friday...
Limited Flooding Risk.
Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
Saturday through Tuesday...
Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
Spotters will be needed through this evening.
GENERAL STORM MOTION OF THE DAY:
Moving toward the east southeast at 30 mph.
LMZ740>745-132115-
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-
411 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
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:
Elevated Waterspout Risk.
Limited Hail Risk...up to Two Inch Size.
Limited Thunderstorm Wind Gust Risk...up to 60 kt.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.
Thursday through Monday...
Limited Thunderstorm Risk.
Petr
Visit us at www.weather.gov/chicago
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www.youtube.com/nwschicagoIn the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 12, 2:47 PM CDT, 3 hours 54 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
247 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0238 PM Rain 3 SSW Burr Ridge 41.71N 87.94W
07/12/2023 M1.69 inch DuPage IL Mesonet
Mesonet station GW3333 Burr Ridge, 3hr
total.
&&Local storm report, Jul 12, 2:48 PM CDT, 3 hours 53 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
248 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0200 PM Rain 1 W Lemont 41.67N 88.03W
07/12/2023 M1.36 inch Will IL Mesonet
Mesonet station LEMI2 Lemont - Des Plaines
R., 3hr total.
&&Local storm report, Jul 12, 2:49 PM CDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
249 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0224 PM Rain 1 SE Willow Springs 41.73N 87.85W
07/12/2023 M1.32 inch Cook IL Mesonet
Mesonet station AT062 Hickory Hills, 3hr
total.
&&Local storm report, Jul 12, 3:29 PM CDT, 3 hours 12 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Chicago IL
329 PM CDT Wed Jul 12 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0326 PM Rain 1 NNW Oswego 41.69N 88.36W
07/12/2023 M4.56 inch Kendall IL Trained Spotter
Spotter measured 4.56in of rain in 24hrs.
&&Local storm report, Jul 12, 6:00 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
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</html>The air that afternoon
The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.
Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z
11.7 hours before the tornado, 200 km from the path. July 12, 2023.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -301 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 936 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 48 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 252 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.9 K/km
The surface observations
Chicago - Schaumburg (06C), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:43 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of July 12, 2023
23 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 12 | 3:43 AM CDT | EF1 | Lafayette, AR | 2.8 | 350 | $15,000 | ||
| July 12 | 5:14 AM CDT | EF1 | Colfax, NE | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| July 12 | 5:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Cuming, NE | 0.5 | 90 | |||
| July 12 | 5:37 AM CDT | EF0 | Burt, NE | 1.1 | 15 | |||
| July 12 | 6:05 AM CDT | EF2 | Harrison, IA | 9.4 | 100 | |||
| July 12 | 6:17 AM CDT | EF1 | Shelby, IA | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| July 12 | 6:28 AM CDT | EF1 | Pottawattamie, IA | 1.5 | 40 | |||
| July 12 | 6:32 AM CDT | EF0 | Pottawattamie, IA | 0.9 | 40 | |||
| July 12 | 6:38 AM CDT | EF0 | Cass, IA | 1.5 | 50 | |||
| July 12 | 6:39 AM CDT | EF0 | Cass, IA | 2.1 | 75 | $5,000 | ||
| July 12 | 5:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Boone, IL | 2.5 | 175 | |||
| July 12 | 5:36 PM CDT | EF0 | Kendall, IL | 4.1 | 100 | |||
| July 12 | 6:06 PM CDT | EF1 | McHenry, IL | 6.4 | 200 | |||
| July 12 | 6:09 PM CDT | EF1 | DuPage, IL | 9.1 | 150 | 1 | ||
| July 12 | 6:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Kane, IL | 10.9 | 440 | |||
| July 12 | 6:18 PM CDT | EF0 | Kane, IL | 2.6 | 100 | |||
| July 12 | 6:33 PM CDT | EF0 | McHenry, IL | 3.4 | 125 | |||
| July 12 | 6:43 PM CDT | EF0 | Cook, IL | 1.1 | 80 | |||
| July 12 | 6:44 PM CDT | EF0 | DuPage, IL | 2.9 | 125 | |||
| July 12 | 6:52 PM CDT | EF0 | Lake, IL | 2.1 | 125 | |||
| July 12 | 6:54 PM CDT | EF0 | DuPage, IL | 3.4 | 225 | |||
| July 12 | 7:02 PM CDT | EF0 | Cook, IL | 3.4 | 300 | |||
| July 12 | 11:09 PM EDT | EF1 | Saint Joseph, MI | 2.9 | 50 | $50,000 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.