Eerie Videos Capture Thunder, Lightning Storms as Tornadoes Batter Chicago

Dramatic footage shared on social media has captured the fierce thunderstorms and winds that swept across Chicago in the lead-up to the tornadoes in the area. As many as 10 tornadoes were reported in the Chicago area on Monday night, according to local media, including at O'Hare International and Midway International Airport, and thousands were left without power across the state. Tornado warnings were in effect on Monday across Chicago and other parts of its surrounding metro area. More From Newsweek Vault: How to Build an Emergency Fund A viral time-lapse video posted by TikTok user Celine Joo (@celinejoo) showed the "nonstop lightning" seen across a cloudy dark night sky following the tornado warnings. The video has had over 117,000 views since it was shared on July 15.

A later post Tuesday by NWS Chicago noted that its area of coverage is "now tornado and severe thunderstorm warning free," however "there was a lot of damage across our area." More From Newsweek Vault: Start Growing Your Emergency Fund Today The National Weather Service (NWS) Chicago reported "seeing power flashes on both the O'Hare and Midway Airport webcams due to likely tornadoes and/or destructive wind gusts near those areas," in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. At the time of writing on Tuesday, over 254,000 people in Illinois were reported to be without power, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks power outages across the country. In various posts shared Monday on X, formerly Twitter, the Chicago Fire Department said that while there have been "no injures reported" yet, "many trees are down in Chicago" and "power lines have been broken." There have also been reports of porch collapses. A video posted Tuesday by @marti.beatriz shows what appears to be fallen tree branches scattered across a street at night. A message overlaid on the clip reads "Chicago tornado damage," while a caption shared with the post simply says "my plants." Another Tuesday video post by @thicksplenda, captioned "Chicago tornado," shows a large tree knocked over on a street in the city's Lake View neighborhood. Several other TikTokers also captured the eerie weather after the tornado warnings were issued. User @ichasewisdom shared a clip Tuesday showing strong winds outside a dining venue in Chicago amid the storms. A caption shared with the post says "Tornado touched down in Chicago and humbled me REAL BAD!!!" According to a note overlaid on the video, which shows two women walking down a street after leaving work, the poster had to "immediately...run back inside for cover." The footage shows a view from inside the dining venue, with tree branches being bent over by the wind amid stormy weather. Rachel Shay (@itsrachelshay) shared a "spooky" birds' eye view of stormy clouds over the city amid the tornado warning sirens going off. A message overlaid on the clip says "Tornadoes in a high rise got me feeling like I'm a horror movie." She added "the siren will always be spooky for me" in a caption shared with the post. A hazardous weather outlook is in place for portions of north central Illinois, northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana, according to a report Tuesday by the NWS. The NWS said: "A weak cold front will push slowly southeast across the area today. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are possible along and ahead of the front this afternoon, mainly south of a Pontiac to Valparaiso line. "No severe weather is expected. A few isolated storms may linger into this evening roughly along and south of U.S. highway 24," the NWS said. Do you have a weather-related video or story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com and your story could be featured on Newsweek.