A powerful storm system raced southward through Wisconsin and Illinois late Thursday, pelting Chicago skyscrapers with golf ball-sized hail, bringing traffic in the city to a near standstill and packing winds so strong they spun a grounded military cargo
CHICAGO (AP) — A powerful storm system raced southward through Wisconsin and Illinois late Thursday, pelting Chicago skyscrapers with golf ball-sized hail, bringing traffic in the city to a near standstill and packing winds so strong they spun a grounded military cargo plane. The storm raced down through Lake Michigan coastal communities, ducking further inland before reaching the Windy City and losing strength once it moved into Indiana, said David Beachler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chicago. He said a gauge on the beach in Waukeegan Harbor, a Chicago suburb just south of the Wisconsin border, registered a hurricane-strength wind gust of 94 mph. David Mann, a manager at Batten International Airport in Racine, Wis., said a wind gauge there registered a gust of 82 mph and that the storm caused a C130 military plane on display to pivot 45-50 degrees. The Journal Times reported that up to 11,500 customers of We Energies were without power in Racine County as of 10 p.m. As the storm moved southward into Chicago, it dumped heavy rain and hail the size of golf balls and even baseballs, said Casey Sullivan, a weather service meteorologist. Lake County Emergency Management Agency coordinator Kent McKenzie said the storm felled trees into buildings and power lines, and that there were several reports of trees damaging recreational vehicles camped at Illinois Beach State Park, north of Waukegan. Emergency workers freed several people trapped by a tree in a vehicle at the park, but no one was hurt, McKenzie said. It was hot in the area on Thursday, and temperatures were expected to reach the upper 90s on Friday. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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