Cold and snow may have been the big weather stories so far this November, but severe weather can sometimes rear its ugly head, and not just in the South.
On Nov. 17, 2013, 12 years ago today, an outbreak of 76 tornadoes ripped through seven states over 11 hours from Michigan to Tennessee.
That included three deadly tornadoes, all in Illinois, two of which were rated EF4.
One of those EF4 tornadoes first touched down in East Peoria, Illinois, then swept through the town of Washington. Three people were killed and 125 were injured. Over 600 homes and 2,500 vehicles were destroyed in Washington, according to NOAA.
Another deadly EF4 tornado near New Minden, Illinois, swept a home completely off its foundation, claiming two lives. The Ohio River town of Brookport, Illinois, was hit by an EF3 tornado, killing three and damaging or destroying over 180 homes.
At the time, this was the fourth-largest November tornado outbreak on record in the U.S., with damage estimated at $1.5 billion, according to NOAA and Climate Central.
One thing I'll never forget about that outbreak was thesight of fans evacuating the stands at Chicago's Soldier Fieldas severe thunderstorms approached during the Bears NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens. Wind gusts to 75 mph were clocked on the city's near south side.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him onBluesky,X (formerly Twitter)andFacebook.