National Weather Service confirms multiple tornadoes in DeKalb County, 1 each in Kane, Lee, McHenry

Several tornado touchdowns have been confirmed in DeKalb County, one each in neighboring Kane, Lee and McHenry counties, following Monday night’s severe storms, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said Tuesday.

“At the moment without our areas of jurisdiction we confirmed six tornadoes,” said Romeoville-headquartered National Weather Service meteorologist Rafal Ogorek.

According to the National Weather Service, four of those were in DeKalb County, and one was in Kane County, with a sixth one in McHenry County, and a seventh was in Lee County. Of those seven tornadoes, three were categorized as EF-1, the second-lowest damaging twister, according to the weather service scale.

[ Sycamore resident recounts being ‘in direct path’ of reported tornado touchdown ]

National Weather Service survey teams were out across the region Tuesday morning assessing damage on the ground to determine categories of the twisters, which weren’t yet known.

An update from the National Weather Service shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday confirmed a seventh tornado in Paw Paw, in Lee County.

Ogorek said the first confirmed tornado was near Esmond, an EF-0, in the far northwest of DeKalb County, and it’s possible that one also touched down in Ogle County.

“We have a survey team there, but there was definitely a tornado there,” Ogorek said.

The second touched down south of Kirkland, an EF-U, which means there wasn’t enough damage to survey it by a number on the scale, according to the National Weather Service. That tornado came from the same storm system as the first one, he said.

The third tornado, an EF-0, also touched down in DeKalb County and near Ogle County, somewhere between Creston and Esmond, and tracked into DeKalb County just north of Malta, Ogorek said.

[ Weather roundup: Power outages, road closures and tornadoes reported Monday in DeKalb County ]

The fourth tornado, an EF-1, occurred fewer than 12 miles northwest into Kane County, in the Burlington area, he said.

“There are damage reports there, and we have a survey team out there also,” Ogorek said.

The fifth tornado, an EF-1, touched down in Sycamore, where on Monday night the National Weather Service said the heaviest damage was reported.

“That one started in DeKalb County,” Ogorek said. “We’re not entirely sure how long it was on the ground for, but it’s possible it stayed on the ground for a good distance and tracked into Kane County. There’s damage in the Maple Park and Virgil area, but we’re not sure if it’s the same tornado that touched down in Sycamore or whether that initial tornado in Sycamore lifted and then touched down again in Maple Park.”

The Tuesday night update from the National Weather Service reported that the Sycamore tornado track could have split into two or three separate tracks, and teams are still working to piece together the details of where, when and how often the initial tornado lifted.

[ Photos: Severe storms bring reported tornado damage to Sycamore ]

Ogorek said it’s also possible there were additional touchdowns in Kane County but they’re not yet confirmed.

A confirmed EF-1 tornado also touched down in the north part of the City of McHenry in McHenry County.

[ Tornado confirmed in western Kane County, brief touchdowns reported near Campton Hills: NWS ]

He said heavy late summer storms Monday night made for weather patterns which are favorable for tornadic activity.

“The environment overall across northern Illinois was favorable for the development of tornadoes,” Ogorek said. “Oftentimes, tornadoes like to form on boundaries, and what we’re thinking is that there was probably some sort of boundary known as an outflow boundary that left behind storms earlier in the day and it’s possible that that might have been laid out right across DeKalb County.”