Site icon Kirk Taylor

Tornadoes and Straight Line Winds Chase Me to Chicago

I’m on my way to Blog World in New York City first driving into Chicago to catch a Southwest flight out of Midway airport in Chicago. I opted to hit the Holiday Inn Express right next to Midway which makes it extremely convenient to get to the airport.

Holiday Inn Express has an excellent breakfast, I love the eggs flipped with the Cheese in between and the biscuits and gravy. The best part is the Cinnamon rolls that are extremely fresh and tasty!

I held off a little bit before I left. Hail storms were everywhere along with a couple of touchdowns of Tornadoes.  Turns out, the trip would be full of excitement.

The weather coming in started off very rocky with a close call with some very strong storms as I drove into Chicago. Driving in Eastern Iowa, as I looked to my right I noticed what at first look like clouds on the ground—the wind blowing extremely hard, and as I looked again, I noticed lowering out of the sky, the clouds on the ground turns out to be debris.

I can’t say that it was a tornado—it may have been straight line winds—I wanted to stop and take a picture—it was too close and I kept going. This was the beginning of the squall line that produced Tornadoes in Illinois.

I stopped a few times during the trip—each time the storm would catch me—I was able to once again drive out as I didn’t get to far in.

Finally, I drove a little South that took me out of the storm completely.  I was able to get to Chicago and get my bags in my room.

I made it just in time to turn on the TV, literally two minutes to spare. I was able to watch the entire Storm Chasers special. It had excellent coverage of the Alabama Tornadoes. I was surprised at how serious Reed Timmer was and surprised that other storm chasers weren’t interviewed.

Next up! Time Square in New York City…

Exit mobile version