Photos show massive clouds over downtown Chicago after tornado
A menacing mass of clouds that resembled a mountain range loomed along the Chicago skyline in the wake of a tornado Wednesday, extraordinary photos show.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in Chicago before,” freelance journalist Jame Kay tweeted shortly after 9:15 p.m., alongside an image of the pink-hued clouds towering over the Windy City’s downtown skyscrapers.
Even the Willis Tower — the third tallest building in the western hemisphere — appeared dwarfed by the puffy, low-lying clouds.
A similar image taken in suburban Aurora shows slightly wispier clouds over a strip mall complex.
Local photographer Barry Butler also shared a stunning panoramic view of the city lit up by early evening sunshine as the colossal cloud formations linger in the background.
“It seemed like a mountain range behind downtown Chicago following the storm,” Butler wrote.
The eerie sight formed in the wake of a series of storms, including a tornado that touched down, social media posters recounted.
The twister was on the ground around 7 p.m., the National Weather Service said.
The storm forced flight cancellations and delays in O’Hare Airport, where hundreds of passengers were forced to shelter in place.
Disgruntled travelers were packed like sardines in a concourse waiting out the extreme weather, a video shared on Twitter showed.
Chicago resident Lynn Becker also posted a video of tornado sirens going off downtown.
“I’m in a 60 story apartment building so my options are somewhat limited,” he told the Associated Press.
“We have to, I assume, go into the core of the building.”
The tornado warning was lifted by 8 p.m., and Chicagoans were later treated to a vivid rainbow.
The storm moved north into Michigan before passing over Canada early Thursday.
Assessing damage from the storm is expected to take days; no immediate injuries were reported.
As of Wednesday night, tornado damage was reported in Bridgeview and Stickney, outside of the city, NBC reported.
Timelapse artist Craig Shimala posted a video of the second wave of storms moving over the city Thursday morning.
While Wednesday evening is initially threatened by large gray clouds, the sky eventually gives way to deep blue while the mountain-life clouds hang on the horizon, the extraordinary pictures show.
With Post wires
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