Wednesday's severe weather outbreak in the Chicago area spawned numerous tornadoes and damaged dozens of homes and businesses, but can tornadoes actually hit the city itself?
The answer is definitely yes, but it's rare. In fact, according to research by NBC meteorologist Paul Deanno, just six confirmed touch downs have occurred in the city within the last 70 years.
The most-recent prior to Wednesday occurred when an EF-1 tornado touched down in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood in Aug. 2020.
Numerous touch downs were reported around the area, including near O'Hare International Airport, but the National Weather Service is still collecting damage assessments to determine if the path of the twister entered the city itself.
Tornadoes were also reported near South Elgin, Campton Hills and Stickney, among other communities, according to officials.
Before the 2020 storm, the most recent tornado to touch down in the city occurred in 2006, when a twister touched down near Loyola University’s Hyde Park campus.
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The strongest tornado to strike Chicago over the last 70 years occurred in 1967, when an EF-4 tornado roared through the city. The twister moved across Chicago’s South Side, crossing the Dan Ryan Expressway and hammering areas along Lake Michigan near 79th Street.
According to research, nearly 60 people died in the severe weather of that fateful April day.
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