Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

Dangerous, prolonged heat is ongoing in the Mid-South to Mid-Mississippi Valley and heat expands into the Northeast for a brief period today. Widely scattered instances of flash flooding due to heavy rains are forecast from northeast Kansas to much of Indiana. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across parts of New England, northern Mid-Atlantic, and North Dakota. Read More >

Overview

Wind gusts frequently reached 50 to 55 mph for much of northern Illinois and northwest Indiana on Sunday, November 15.

The peak wind gust was 69 mph at Chicago Midway Airport a little before noon, which was also measured at a nearby NWS Cooperative Observer location. This appeared to be a localized burst of higher gusts.

These winds were a result of a rapidly strengthening weather system moving from the Great Lakes into southeast Canada.

This continued the tempo of a windy autumn across the region, as shown in Chicago stats to the right.

Wind
Photos
Storm Reports
Additional

Wind:

Peak Wind Gusts

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Chicago IL
355 PM CST Sun Nov 15 2020 /455 PM EST Sun Nov 15 2020/

...HIGHEST WIND GUSTS ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15...

The following land locations are from ASOS and AWOS locations
at area airports. Not all data listed are considered official.

Location                     Speed     Time/Date
----------------------------------------------------
Chicago Midway               69 MPH    1147 AM 11/15
Sugar Grove - Aurora Arpt.   59 MPH    1127 AM 11/15
Peru Airport                 56 MPH    0935 AM 11/15
Kankakee Airport             55 MPH    1135 AM 11/15
Valparaiso Airport           55 MPH    1104 AM 11/15
Wheeling - Chicago Exec. Arp 54 MPH    1105 AM 11/15
Morris Airport               53 MPH    1155 AM 11/15
Chicago O`Hare               53 MPH    1121 AM 11/15
Rensselaer Airport           52 MPH    0155 PM 11/15
Lansing Airport              51 MPH    1215 PM 11/15
Pontiac Airport              51 MPH    1055 AM 11/15
Rockford Airport             51 MPH    1035 AM 11/15
Romeoville - Lewis Airport   49 MPH    1055 AM 11/15
Rochelle Airport             48 MPH    1035 AM 11/15
Waukegan Airport             48 MPH    0608 AM 11/15
DeKalb Airport               47 MPH    1055 AM 11/15
Gary Airport                 44 MPH    1245 PM 11/15


Marine Location              Speed     Time/Date
----------------------------------------------------
Chicago Harrison-Dever Crib  61 MPH    1130 AM 11/15
Waukegan Harbor              46 MPH     100 PM 11/15

Photos:


Truck downed on I-57 near the border of Will and Kankakee Counties. Courtesy of Bob Williams.	Large branched downed in Chicago. Courtesy of the Chicago Police Dept.

Storm Reports

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
756 AM CST MON NOV 16 2020

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

1127 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 2 W SUGAR GROVE         41.77N 88.48W
11/15/2020  M59 MPH          KANE               IL   ASOS

            ASOS STATION KARR SUGAR GROVE - AURORA ARPT.

1130 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 3 NE NAVY PIER          41.92N 87.57W
11/15/2020  M61 MPH          LMZ741             IL   C-MAN STATION

            MEASURED AT THE HARRISON-DEVER CRIB.
            ANEMOMETER IS 26 M ABOVE SITE ELEVATION.

1135 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 S KANKAKEE            41.11N 87.86W
11/15/2020                   KANKAKEE           IL   PUBLIC

            SMALL-MEDIUM SIZED TREE WITH DIAMETER APPROX
            FOOT AND A HALF DOWNED. TIME ESTIMATED.

1145 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 N BRIDGEPORT - CHICAG 41.85N 87.65W
11/15/2020                   COOK               IL   NEWSPAPER

            STOPLIGHT TRAFFIC SIGNAL DOWNED. REPORTED AT
            ARCHER AVENUE, BRIDGEPORT, IL. TIME
            ESTIMATED.

1147 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST MIDWAY AIRPORT          41.78N 87.76W
11/15/2020  M69 MPH          COOK               IL   ASOS

            MEASURED AT ASOS AT KMDW CHICAGO MIDWAY
            AIRPORT AND VERIFIED BY OBSERVER. A 69 MPH
            GUST WAS ALSO MEASURED AT THE NEARBY COOP
            OBSERVER AT 3SW MIDWAY AT THE SAME TIME.
            THIS APPEARED TO BE A LOCALIZED OCCURRENCE
            OF GUSTS THIS HIGH.

1200 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 WSW MCKINLEY PARK - C 41.82N 87.68W
11/15/2020                   COOK               IL   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            LARGE BRANCH DOWNED. REPORTED AT PERSHING
            AND WESTERN, CHICAGO, IL.

1215 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 2 WSW PEOTONE           41.32N 87.82W
11/15/2020                   WILL               IL   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            OVERTURNED SEMI ON I-57 SOUTHBOUND BETWEEN
            WILMINGTON-PEOTONE RD (EXIT 327) AND MANTENO
            INTERCHANGE (EXIT 322). CONFIRMED BY ISP.
            LIKELY DUE TO WIND.

1230 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 N SOUTH CHICAGO       41.75N 87.55W
11/15/2020                   COOK               IL   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            LARGE TREE FELL IN THE 3000 BLOCK OF EAST
            CHELTENHAM PLACE, STRIKING A GAS METER AND
            MULTIPLE CARS. REPORT FROM FIRE DEPT RELAYED
            THROUGH MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED.

0155 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG LINCOLN PARK - CHICAGO  41.92N 87.64W
11/15/2020                   COOK               IL   PUBLIC

            MEDIUM TO LARGER SIZE TREE DOWNED ACROSS ALL
            OF LARABEE ST. TIME ESTIMATED.

0400 PM     NON-TSTM WND DMG 2 SE OAK LAWN           41.70N 87.72W
11/15/2020                   COOK               IL   PUBLIC

            A PORTION OF AN APARTMENT ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF
            - RELAYED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.

Additional Information

NWS Chicago Past Events Page

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Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

November 15, 2020: Windy Autumn Continues with 50+ mph Gusts