DeKalb County has a long, dangerous history with tornadoes. Tips for surviving severe weather season

DeKALB – Spring is here, but as the daily average temperature in DeKalb County rises, a warmer and wetter weather threat emerges: severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash flooding.

And DeKalb County is no stranger to the ravages of tornado season.

Brett Borchardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said northern Illinois can get thunderstorms anytime throughout the year. To him, however, April represents the start of thunderstorm season for the region.

“And with thunderstorms is the threat for severe weather, and that’s thunderstorms that have a threat to life and property, whether it’s due to damaging hail, damaging winds, tornados or flashing flooding,” Borchardt said. “Those are most common during the spring and summer months as well. Roughly from May to July or May to August is when those are most common.”

Severe weather has had its significant impacts on DeKalb County over the past few years. A string of late summer tornadoes touched down Aug. 9, 2021, near Clare, Malta, Sycamore and Fairdale all in one night.

A derecho – a straight-line severe windstorm coinciding with a thunderstorm that can bring gusts exceeding 80 mph, according to the National Weather Service – hit DeKalb County in August 2020. The derecho swept violently through northern Illinois. In Bureau County, a disaster was declared by county officials. The storm left disaster in its wake across Joliet, the Sauk Valley area and more.

Basically, when we issue a tornado warning it’ll go straight to your phone and it’ll make a real loud sound and wake you up. It may seem inconvenient at first but it’s really one of the best ways to get a warning because it’s within seconds of when we hit the button to send it out.

—  Brett Borchardt with the National Weather Service

On April 9, 2015, an EF-4, a violent storm with wind speeds of 166 to 200 mph, struck Fairdale, killing Jacklyn K. Klosa, 69, and Geraldine M. Schultz, 67. The tornado also ripped through parts of Lee, Ogle and Boone counties, leaving in its wake an estimated $19 million in damages.

Kirkland Community Fire Protection District Chief Chad Connell was a part of the emergency response to that storm, which struck less than 10 miles from his fire station.

“I think that it reminds you that anything can happen anywhere, whereas you think ‘Hey, just because we haven’t seen a tornado here in 40 years, it’s not going to happen to us,’” Connell said.

Between 1950 and 2019, 15 tornados impacted DeKalb County, according to the National Weather Service. In that time, 80 other Illinois counties saw more tornadoes.

Borchardt said late spring into the summer is when northern and central Illinois see the most tornado activity.

“Even though we’re not in the plains, we can still get some nasty tornadoes here,” Borchardt said. “We’ve had an EF-4 and even an EF-5 tornado in the area not recently, thankfully, but we have had some pretty violent tornadoes. They’re most common, I would say in the spring and early summer months. May and June are our big tornado months, especially June is typically when we see most of them in our area.”

Although tornadoes are most common in the spring and summer months in northern Illinois, there have already been reported tornados in Illinois this year. According to the National Weather Service, an EF-1 tornado touched down in Maroa County on Jan. 3. On Feb. 27, two EF-0 tornados were spotted in Joliet and Naperville, documents show.

Unseasonal severe weather brought tornadoes to central and eastern Missouri and the Missouri-Illinois border, killing seven, including six at an Amazon facility near Edwardsville.

While major tornados have occurred in the area, Borchardt said the majority of northern Illinois tornados are brief and short-lived.

“They’re not like the videos you see on the internet or on TV where it’s a huge tornado lasting for 20, 30 minutes. Thankfully, we don’t get many of those,” Borchardt said. “Most of them are brief, but because of that sometimes that means you don’t have as much time to take cover.”

Connell said there was ample warning ahead of the 2015 EF-4 tornado that struck Fairdale.

According to the National Weather Service, the Fairdale tornado had maximum winds of 200 mph. The tornado began near Franklin Grove and traveled through the northwest side of Rochelle, across I-39, through Fairdale and ended south of Belvidere. It’s the strongest tornado on record for both Ogle and DeKalb counties.

“You know how weather is, a lot of times they predict things and it doesn’t happen, and then all of the sudden you sort of get caught off guard,” Connell said. “But like I said, that particular storm, they were talking about it days before it happened and they were right.”

Tips for surviving severe weather

These days, when the National Weather Service issues an important severe weather alert, the notice goes directly to phones of those affected by way of the country’s Wireless Emergency Alert system. Additional notice can come from local officials or media outlets, but the public alerts are issued directly to mobile devices.

“Basically, when we issue a tornado warning it’ll go straight to your phone and it’ll make a real loud sound and wake you up,” Borchardt said. “It may seem inconvenient at first but it’s really one of the best ways to get a warning because it’s within seconds of when we hit the button to send it out.”

Experts also recommend sheltering in a basement or room without windows when a tornado alert is sound. It’s a good idea to have an emergency preparedness kit ready to go, too, whether inside your home or in a car, according to the National Weather Service. That could include items such as bottled water, pet and personal hygiene supplies, extra clothing and blankets, a flashlight with extra batteries, a first aid kit and medications, and nonperishable food.

The National Weather Service also recommends getting a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radio to stay up to date on severe weather watches (when there’s an elevated risk of severe weather) and severe weather warnings (when severe weather has been confirmed to be actively taking place).

For hail, stay indoors and away from windows, experts warn. For lightning, move indoors and away from trees or water. If flooding happens, avoid rising creeks and water-covered roads.

DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said he also recommends a NOAA radio for a storm preparation kit, and encouraged area residents to take severe weather warnings for thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash flooding seriously.

Sullivan said DeKalb County doesn’t typically see many flash flooding events, but if they do the impacted areas are often low-lying places near waterways.

Sullivan said Evergreen Village Mobile Park Home in Sycamore frequently was afflicted by flooding before it was demolished, but outside of that location, he hasn’t found many residential areas prone to flash flooding.

Regardless of where flash flooding occurs however, Sullivan said county residents should think twice before walking, wading or driving through standing water.

“You want to avoid driving through standing or moving water, that would be the biggest thing that I recommend,” Sullivan said. “And if there’s downed trees or power lines, don’t cross those. Turn around and contact your local police department and let them know there might be a downed wire so they can contact the appropriate utility company to come out and assess this situation.”