Dozens of twisters hopscotched across at least five states Tuesday in the third major severe weather outbreak of the past two weeks. It was the single biggest tornado count since Hurricane Rita’s remnants roared ashore on September 25, producing 47 twisters. The number of tornadoes Tuesday had reached 35 by late evening. And forecasters feared an active 1,600 mile long squall line, extending from the south Texas Gulf Coast north to the Detroit area, would produce more. November, 2005 now ranks as the the deadliest month of 2005 for tornadoes, having produced 22 fatalities. Flooding 5-10” rains were reported in southern Illinois--including 4.51” at Carbondale.
To Chicago’s north and west, wind-driven snow fell amid plummeting temperatures. Snowfall reached 6.2” at Elcho, 4.5” at LaCrosse and 4” at Wisconsin Dells—all in the Badger State—and was still accumulating beyond sunset.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
