Furious storm winds ripped part of the roof off a Glendale Heights car dealership and left more than 10,000 homes from Bolingbrook to Des Plaines without power Tuesday.
But despite witnesses’ descriptions of funnel clouds, meteorologists said the storm was not a tornado but a fierce, isolated storm called a microburst.
No injuries were reported.
The Quality Chevrolet-Geo dealership at 414 North Ave. suffered more than $1 million damage after part of the roof was torn away and cars were damaged at 1:30 p.m., said owner Scott Sypolt.
“We were in a meeting and we heard a noise that sounded like a huge freight train,” he said. “We ran to the south window and saw pitch blackness and what looked like a funnel cloud.
“Then we heard a loud explosion, and the plate-glass window shattered. That was the roof blowing off.”
The gaping hole allowed a torrent of rain to flood an office on the building’s second floor.
Airborne bricks and other flying debris ripped through cars parked behind the building, flattening five of them and denting many others. Strong winds overturned a van owned by one of the dealership’s 250 employees.
“It was the weirdest thing I ever saw in my life,” said sales manager Ralph Conti, who was in the middle of a deal when the storm hit. “It was totally black for about 60 seconds, and then the sun came back out.”
Witnesses said that in the interim, they saw a funnel cloud, rain driven horizontally by wind, and hail that ranged from the size of peas to as large as golf balls.
There was no other significant structural damage in the village, said Glenside Fire Chief Ralph Blust.
Gusty winds and thunderstorms were reported throughout the Chicago area, and lightning caused minor damage but no injuries at several southwest suburban homes.
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service said there were no tornadoes in the region.
“Most likely it was a microburst,” said Mark Ratzer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Romeoville.
“This occurs when heavy precipitation pulls the air down, making it very dense and creating strong winds similar to a weak tornado,” he said.
“One way of telling is by the placement of the debris. Debris caused by a microburst is taken in one direction, whereas the debris from a tornado is strewn in a circular fashion,” Ratzer said.
Lightning from the storm caused a spot fire on the roof of an Orland Park home on Kathy Lane, according to the Orland Park Fire Department.
Lightning also struck two homes in Tinley Park, one in the 16100 block of Pine Drive and another at 166th Street and Clover Avenue, said Tinley Park fire officials.
Another bolt hit near Kimberly Heights School, 6141 Kimberly Drive. There was no serious damage reported there.
The heavy thunderstorms briefly delayed flights at O’Hare International Airport and at Midway Airport.
Winds knocked out power in a wide area. Officials at Commonwealth Edison estimated that more than 10,000 homes in the region were without power Tuesday. Service was restored to most homes by 6 p.m., officials said.
