Tornadoes Confirmed Near Crestwood, Midway, O'Hare In Monday's Storms

COOK COUNTY — Destructive storms ripped through Cook County Monday evening, with as many as ten tornadoes on the ground at the same time from northern Cook to Kankakee, according to National Weather Service reports shared with Patch.

Storms with the system produced wind gusts topping 80 mph west of Chicago earlier Monday. O’Hare International clocked a 75-mph wind gust at 9:45 p.m., where travelers sought refuge away from windows and shops in the airport closed.

Around 9:39 p.m., two tornadoes were spotted by the Chicago-Midway Airport weather observer near the South Side airport. The pair of twisters comes the day after an EF-0 tornado touched down Sunday near Midway.

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One of the Midway tornadoes from Monday was reportedly possibly headed for Summit and Bedford Park.

NWS radar confirmed a tornado crossed I-294 into Crestwood at 9:45 p.m.

"We won't know the strength of the tornadoes until they go out and survey," said Danny Neal, deputy coordinator for emergency services in Ford County and a professional storm chaser. "There will be a ton of reports in the morning."

Residents of the Airway Mobile Home Community fled when tornado sirens blared over Oak Lawn seeking shelter in the Target parking garage. Several vehicles filled with neighbors and their pets waited out the storm until just after 10 p.m., when the tornado warning for the area was lifted.

Two young girls sheltering with their families wanted to go shopping at Target.

“No,” their father said, “I want you here with me.”

A tornado warning that had been in effect for the entirety of Cook County until 10 p.m. was cleared as of 10:03 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

"Cook County is now Tornado Warning free as the circulations have moved over the lake. The potential for damaging winds will continue for the next 10 minutes! The line of storms with multiple tornadic circulations continues across NW Indiana and east central Illinois!"

The National Weather Service had posted on Twitter at 9:45 p.m.: "Dozens of circulations continue along this line of destructive thunderstorms moving across Cook County (including Chicago), the southern Suburbs south into Kankakee County. These will soon move into NW Indiana. Seek shelter until these storms move through!"

Residents were advised to seek shelter.