Huge shelf cloud forms over central Chicago as threat of severe storms loom
A huge shelf cloud formed over central Chicago as the wider region braces for severe storms.
Footage shared by EarthCam showed the grey swirls of clouds looming low over the centre of the city overlooking lake Michigan on Thursday.
More than 85 million Americans are bracing for a wave of severe storms to tear through more regions across the US from Detroit to Texas, including Chicago.
A skyline shot of central Chicago shows a thick shelf cloud hovering low over the city on Thursday morning
The shot shows the true force of storms moving through the area, which have brought winds of up to 50-60mph and hail stones measuring up to an inch in diameter, reported CNN.
Ripples seen on the lake water as the shelf cloud passed through the city captured the power of the gusts that caused delays and planes to ground at airports in the region.
Shelf clouds are usually attached to a thunderstorm base and form along the gust front. They are most often seen along the leading edge of an approaching line of thunderstorms.
It comes just a day after officials confirmed at least five people were killed in a tornado that swept through the state of Missouri.
Wednesday’s severe weather was the third in a series of fatal storms over the last two weeks that have spawned dozens of tornadoes, mainly in southern and midwestern America, killing at least 63 people.
The storms moving through midwestern and southern America had threatened some areas that were still reeling from the fatal bout of bad weather at the weekend.
The Storm Prediction Center earlier said up to 40 million people were at risk in an area that included Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit and Memphis, Tennessee.
On Tuesday evening, the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings in Iowa and Illinois on Tuesday evening and said a confirmed twister was spotted southwest of Chicago near Bryant.
In central Illinois, officials said five people were hurt and about 300 homes were left without power due to a tornado that struck in Fulton County later that evening.
Director of the county’s Emergency Services Disaster Agency, Chris Helle, said one of the people injured was in a critical condition.
Mr Helle said the damage was concentrated near the town of Bryant, about 200 miles south-west of Chicago, and that numerous home were destroyed.
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