Dear Tom,
Eighty years ago in May 1927, a tornado struck the Lake Villa-Loon Lake area. What can you tell us about it?
Les Herbst, Lake Villa, Ill.
Dear Les,
It was a warm Monday after-noon on May 9, 1927, with the temperature around 80(degrees), when severe thunderstorms and tor-nadoes swept across the Chicago area, killing at least 4 people and injuring many others. The twister that you are referring to damaged a fish farm in the Lake Villa area and also demolished 40 summer cottages on Loon Lake, causing one fatality there.
In Chicago, a combination of downed trees and fallen trolley wires brought traffic to a stand-still. The storm broke many windows, toppled chimneys and interrupted electrical and tele-phone service. Several people in the Loop were injured when the high winds toppled scaffolding that had been erected around construction sites.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
