The National Weather Service said at least four tornadoes may have touched down across parts of Illinois and Indiana during severe storms that moved through the Chicago area on Tuesday, and the path of the supercell is now central to damage assessments. For weather today those reports point toward official storm surveys and hail verifications that will determine how communities respond.
National Weather Service: Confirmed Storm Reports in Kankakee County and Indiana
The National Weather Service reported suspected tornado touchdowns near Pontiac, south of Kankakee, and in Lake Village and Wheatfield in Indiana, and said one tornado touched down in Kankakee about 7: 30 pm ET Tuesday. The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office described the tornado as touching down south of Kankakee near the Kankakee Fairgrounds, continuing northeast and crossing the Kankakee River into Aroma Park.
Extensive damage in Aroma Park and reports of minor injuries were recorded, and no deaths have been reported. Emergency dispatch centers were overwhelmed with calls in Kankakee County, and local officials urged residents to limit travel because of downed power lines, trees and other debris.
Pontiac-to-Knox Supercell: Hail Records, Large Stones in Darien and Western Suburbs
Meteorologists traced the suspected tornadoes to a single supercell that tracked from near Pontiac through Kankakee County into northwest Indiana before moving toward Knox, Indiana. That same supercell dropped hail measured at 2 to 4 inches in diameter along a path from Pontiac to the Illinois-Indiana state line, and a trained storm spotter in Kankakee reported a hailstone measuring 6 inches in diameter that could become a new Illinois state record if verified.
Parts of Chicago’s western suburbs were struck by large hail, some described as the size of a baseball, and a second supercell produced hail between 3 and 4 inches from Bolingbrook to Darien, with the largest reported hailstone measuring 4. 8 inches in Darien. Commonwealth Edison listed just over 7, 000 customers without power as of 11: 30 pm ET, and downed lines contributed to difficult travel and emergency access in multiple communities.
Weather Today: If NWS Surveys Confirm Four Tornadoes and Hail Records
If the National Weather Service confirms that at least four tornadoes touched down, the agency will deploy three storm survey teams into the field Wednesday to assess damage and verify tornado paths. Those crews will concentrate on Kankakee County in Illinois and Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana, and confirmed survey results would shape damage counts, emergency declarations and insurance assessments across those jurisdictions.
Should power outages persist and 911 centers remain overwhelmed, local response will stay strained and officials are likely to maintain travel warnings and discourage non-emergency calls. Kankakee County board leadership and the Kankakee mayor filed an emergency declaration with the state, and convoys of police vehicles and mobile command centers have been active in search and recovery operations; continued outages would prolong those operations and slow repairs.
Based on context data:
- Suspected tornado touchdowns: Pontiac, south of Kankakee, Lake Village, Wheatfield
- Kankakee touchdown timing: about 7: 30 pm ET Tuesday
- Hail sizes reported: 2–4 inches (Pontiac to state line), a 6-inch spotter report in Kankakee, 4. 8 inches in Darien
- Power outages: just over 7, 000 customers without power as of 11: 30 pm ET
- NWS action: three storm survey teams planned for Wednesday
The next confirmed signal from the context is the National Weather Service’s damage-survey findings and the verification of hail reports; those updates will resolve whether four tornadoes are officially confirmed and whether the 6-inch hailstone becomes a state record. What the context does not resolve is the final tally of structural damage across every impacted community and how long power outages will last, but the scheduled NWS surveys and ongoing utility restoration work will determine the near-term recovery timeline.
