(Des Moines) At least two tornadoes swept through Illinois on Tuesday, including one that made landfall southwest of Chicago.
There are no reports of injuries at this time, but footage released by local media shows that buildings have been damaged.
Earlier in the day, the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois had been swept by 145 mile per hour winds and hammered by baseball-sized hailstones. Several trees were uprooted and structures damaged.
Northern Illinois saw winds of 120 or 130 kilometers per hour and hailstones with a diameter of five to eight centimeters. Semi-trailers were overturned by the wind.
The Storm Prediction Center warned powerful storms could spawn tornadoes and sizable hailstones Wednesday in eastern Illinois, lower Michigan and the Ohio Valley, including the ‘Indiana and Ohio.
Bad weather also threatens parts of Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas.
A blizzard warning is in effect for most of North Dakota and most of South Dakota until at least Wednesday evening. A winter storm warning covers northern Minnesota.
Residents of the Midwestern and Southern United States were warned Tuesday night before going to bed to have shelter ready in case of an emergency.