I’ve been scratching my head today over two weather events that occurred earlier in the week. On Monday might, a line of severe thunderstorms rolled through the Chicago area. And, on Tuesday morning, Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall along the upper Texas coast.
At first blush, you would think the tropical storm would have been the big weather troublemaker. After all, a tropical storm can really pack a punch, generating high winds, isolated tornadoes, storm surge and drenching rain.
Folks in Texas, especially around the Houston area, know all about tropical trouble. Last September, Hurricane Humberto seemingly came out of nowhere lashing the area with high winds and heavy rain. And, in June of 2001, the region was devastated by Tropical Storm Allison, a weak, poorly organized system that dumped nearly 40 inches of rain.
Still, Edouard turned out to be a non-event. Sure, the area got soaked with three to five inches of rain and winds did gust to 65 mph but there were no reports of any significant damage, injuries or deaths. In fact, considering how dry it has been in southeastern Texas for the past few months, Edouard was just what the region needed.
In Chicago, on the other had, folks were still picking up the pieces after a vicious line of thunderstorms roared through the area Monday night.
The storms were so strong tornado sirens were heard in downtown Chicago, Cub fans were evacuated from the stands at Wrigley field and passengers at O’Hare International Airport were moved to lower levels of the terminal.
The National Weather Service confirmed that at least three tornadoes accompanied the squall line through the region. Twisters touched down in the Chicago suburbs of Bloomingdale and Bolingbrook. A third tornado hit Griffith, Indiana.
More than two dozen homes were damaged because of the storms while thousands of people were still without power Wednesday afternoon, nearly 48 hours after the storm hit. Lightning was blamed for several fires.
A tropical storm making landfall is always a big deal. As it turned out, Edouard was a big dud while, in Chicago, a line of severe storms turned out to be the day’s big weather news.
