Non-severe thunderstorms rolled through during the morning on November 22nd, 2010 as a warm front was lifting north into northern Illinois. The storms cleared mid-morning and sunshine was found for the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon. With the increasing sunshine the instability also rose ahead of a strong cold front and area of low pressure. Afternoon temperatures rose rapidly into the upper 60s with a record high of 69° being recorded in Rockford. This broke the old record of 67° set back in 1913.
Storms redeveloped in eastern Iowa ahead of the cold front and quickly moved east over the Mississippi River. It was around this time that a Tornado Watch was issued for northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. About an hour later Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued for several counties across north-central Illinois. Shortly before 3pm one storm over the town of Winnebago started to show signs of rotation. This storm then moved northeast over Rockford and Loves Park when tornado warnings were issued and a tornado touched down just west of Harvey Road.
It was around 3:10pm when the EF2 tornado moved through Caledonia producing significant damage throughout the town. The tornado continued northeast near Capron before eventually moving into McHenry County.
It was the unusual warmth that afternoon that helped fuel those storms. And typically during a La Nina pattern there is an increased risk of 'cool-season' severe weather outbreaks. The same happened back in January 2008 when a tornado moved through Poplar Grove. This is something to keep in mind as La Nina has returned and will stick around through this upcoming winter. The First Warn Weather Team was here with on-air and online coverage before, during and even after the storm moved through. We brought you pictures and video as the storm moved through and that's why you can depend on the First Warn Weather Team when severe weather threatens.
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