Nearly 80 Tornadoes Spawned in Midwest Storms

Kristin Wright | Open Doors USA | Updated: Nov 18, 2013

Nearly 80 Tornadoes Spawned in Midwest Storms

Severe storms swept across the Midwest on Sunday, spawning high winds, tornadoes, and hail, and leaving at least 6 people dead.

In the small community of Washington, Illinois, resident Michael Perdun watched as his home blew away. “I stepped outside and I heard it coming,” he recalls. “My daughter was already in the basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry room and all of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway and my house was gone. The whole neighborhood's gone, [and] the wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house.”

In Chicago, WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling said that the severe storms that hit the Midwest on Sunday may be among the most powerful in decades.

“It appears the storm may have produced the most powerful Illinois November tornado on record outside of St. Louis (and possibly elsewhere) and may be one of the four most intense Great Lakes storms of the past five decades,” he said.

According to the Chicago Weather Center 194 tornado warnings have been issued in the month of November in Illinois since 1986. Over half – 101 of those warnings – were issued on Sunday. 

Nearly 80 Tornadoes Spawned in Midwest Storms