In northwest Indiana and northeast Illinois, a rare Dust Storm Warning that included the Region was issued Friday afternoon May 16, 2025. The National Weather Service Chicago says it was the first time its office issued a Dust Storm Warning that included the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Meteorologists also said it is very rare for a dust storm to impact Chicago and the last time the city saw one of this magnitude was nearly 100 years ago, during the Dust Bowl in the early to mid 1930s. The weather service says the wall of dust accompanied by wind gusts of over 60 miles per hour produced near-zero visibility. Here’s a link to the National Weather Service Chicago website for an overview. Here’s a link to the Region Weather Facebook page with more details and a look at the dust storm courtesy of Region News Team meteorologist Matt Wintz.
The day before, Thursday May 15, 2025, there were multiple reports of trees down and tree damage from severe thunderstorms across northwest Indiana. Here’s a link to a recap from the National Weather Service Chicago. Severe weather also occurred across areas of central and southern Indiana. The National Weather Service says a total of four tornadoes have been confirmed to hit central and southern Indiana Friday night (May 16 2025). Officials say one person was killed by an EF-2 tornado that swept through Greene County and three others were injured. Another twister touched down in Linton, and one started in Monroe County as an EF-0 and strengthened to an EF-2 when it went into Brown and Bartholomew counties.
