March 14-15, 2025: Line of Late Night Storms Produces Damaging Winds and Multiple Tornadoes

Downloadable KMZ File with All Tornado Tracks

Downloadable Shapefile with All Tornado Tracks

Below is a summary of all of the NWS damage survey findings in the NWS Chicago forecast area from this severe weather event. An interactive map with all of this information can be found on our Damage Assessment Toolkit Viewer website (to see the data from this event, make sure that the date range in the top right corner includes this event's date). Instructions for how to download KMZ files and shapefiles with our survey data are available here.

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Summary:

Damage surveys confirmed an EF-0 tornado. A tornado developed near the intersection of Illinois Route 47 and Bonnie Lane and quickly moved east-northeast across a residential area of Yorkville.  Wind speeds quickly increased to around 80 mph causing the removal of shingles, fascia trim, and some siding from several homes along Kingsmill St. A fence was also heavily damaged.  Winds likely then eased somewhat as the tornado continued east-northeast causing some additional shingle damage as well as damaging several trees as it approached Illinois Route 126. The tornado continued across mainly open land along Illinois Route 71 before crossing Hilltop Road and causing additional shingle and trim damage to several homes in another residential subdivision.  The tornado then dissipated near or just northeast of Reservation Road with straight line winds continuing downstream.

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Summary:

Damage surveys confirmed a brief EF-0 tornado. A brief tornado began near Newport Boulevard and Longford Road in Hanover Park. The tornado moved rapidly northeastward and dissipated a short time later near Lake Street and Ontarioville Road. Most damage was to trees and fences along the track. The most significant damage was near Andover Drive and Andover Court, where at least one tree was uprooted with peak winds estimated near 75 mph.

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Summary:

Damage surveys confirmed an EF-1 tornado. A brief tornado began near Wicker Avenue just south of 136th Place and moved rapidly northeast across Wicker Avenue and through a residential area of Cedar Lake. The tornado then continued north across West 133rd Avenue and along Lindberg Street before ending south of West 129th Avenue. Damage included several large uprooted or snapped trees, some of which fell onto and damaged homes. The most significant damage occurred east of Osborn Street between West 134th Place and West 133rd Lane, where a portion of a roof of a two story home landed in a neighboring yard, with peak winds estimated near 86 mph. In addition, a trampoline was found wrapped around a telephone pole along West 133rd Avenue.

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Summary:

Damage surveys confirmed an EF-0 tornado. A tornado began just north of Rohrman Drive near a small pond between Rohrman Park and Painted Leaf Drive in southeast Schererville. After snapping multiple trees in Memory Lane Memorial Cemetery, the tornado then moved rapidly northeast across US 30 into west Merrillville, passing just east of Miller Elementary School before ending east of US 55 near West 52nd Place in southeast Ross. Damage included multiple uprooted or snapped large trees along with shingle and roof trim damage to homes across multiple residential areas along the five mile path, with peak estimated winds near 80 mph.

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Summary:

Straight-line winds in excess of 60 mph were common from eastern Nebraska eastward through Iowa and Missouri to Wisconsin and Illinois. Small corridors of winds up to 70-80 mph were reported by weather stations and confirmed in ground surveys conducted by multiple NWS offices.

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Summary:

Straight-line winds up to 70-80 mph occurred near Ottawa, near and northeast of DeKalb, and south of DeKalb.

Preliminary Storm Report Map

Preliminary National Storm Reports

Interactive Map of Preliminary Storm Reports