Severe thunderstorm with 90 mph winds strikes the suburbs, power outages affect thousands

Winds exceeding 90 mph hit some areas of the Chicago suburbs when a thunderstorm passed through mid-Tuesday morning.

Officially, the National Weather Service office in Romeoville is not reporting that any tornadoes struck.

But “there were likely some tornadoes embedded” in the strong line of winds, meteorologist Kevin Donfrio said.

Tornado determinations won’t be made until the NWS has a chance to survey damage reports.

As of noon, the NWS was beginning to remove its thunderstorm warnings and watches from the Chicago area.

Tornado sirens were activated in Kane County, including in Geneva and Batavia. Operations at the Kane County Judicial Center were temporarily suspended, with people seeking shelter in the lower level.

ComEd reported that about 122,000 customers, mostly in the Aurora and Naperville area, lost power. Widespread power outages were also reported in Batavia, which has its own electrical utility.