The National Weather Service has been very busy over the last few days. From forecasting the dynamic weather system a few days out, to issuing warnings during the outbreak of severe weather, to now surveying all the damage and assessing the storms. The latter of those tasks is what many NWS offices across the country were up to Saturday, including all three offices that forecast across the Stateline.

Tornado with dark storm clouds (Getty Images)

So far the Chicago and Milwaukee offices have determined there were numerous tornadoes that occurred in the Stateline from Friday’s storms. As of Saturday night, nine tornadoes have been confirmed by the damage surveys done Saturday. One EF-2 tornado, three EF-1 tornadoes, three EF-0 tornadoes, and two confirmed tornados with rating yet to be determined.

Breakdown of the rating of 9 confirmed tornadoes in the Stateline: One EF-2, three EF-1, three EF-0, and two TBD.

One EF-2 Tornado

  • EF-2: Amboy/Sublette, IL (Lee County)

Three EF-1 Tornadoes:

  • EF-1: Davis Junction to Belvidere (this is the tornado that collapsed the roof of the Apollo Theater)
NWS survey results of the Davis Junction/Belvidere EF-1 tornado
  • EF-1: Machesney Park, IL
  • EF-1: Brooklyn, IL (Lee County)

Three EF-0 Tornadoes (all in Southern Wisconsin):

  • EF-0: Beloit, WI
NWS survey results of the Beloit EF-0 tornado
  • EF-0: Geneva, WI
NWS survey results of the Geneva EF-0 tornado
  • EF-0: Sharon, WI
NWS survey results of the Sharon EF-0 tornado

Two Tornadoes with rating TBD

  • Caledonia/Poplar Grove, IL (Boone County)
  • Baileyville, IL (Ogle County)

Chicago’s NWS office was also in the Rockford city limits Saturday afternoon surveying some damage. However, they were unable to complete their survey yet since there were some areas along the damage path still not accessible due to downed trees and/or power lines. Their findings on whether there was a tornado within Rockford city limits or not will be released later this weekend.

The damage path of Friday’s storm in Rockford. (Photo: City of Rockford)

The NWS office in Quad Cities has not yet sent any crews out to survey any damage in Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Carroll, or Whiteside Counties yet; they have been busy with more significant storm damage across Eastern Iowa.

In addition to the tornadoes, there were numerous reports of damaging winds across the area, with reported wind gusts in upwards of 70 mph in many locations. There was at least one storm report from every county in the Stateline. For continual updates on the storm survey findings from the individual NWS offices, click the links below: