Tornado Hits Illinois; Bears Game Delayed

A tornado touched down just before 11am local time near the central Illinois community of East Peoria, weather service officials are confirming today, though they did not immediately have damage or injury reports. Weather officials said it was moving northeast about 60mph; East Peoria is about 150 miles southwest of Chicago. At Chicago's Soldier Field, meanwhile, CNN reports that severe weather delayed the Bears-Ravens game in the first quarter, with officials warning spectators to leave their seats and take shelter as the storm moved through. And the weather isn't just a local worry: "This is a very dangerous situation," said Russell Schneider, director of the weather service's Storm Prediction Center. "Approximately 53 million in 10 states are at significant risk for thunderstorms and tornadoes." Schneider noted that the storms are moving at 60mph, which he said will not give people enough time to seek shelter if they're relying on watching the sky alone. Parts of Illinois, Indiana, southern Michigan, and western Ohio are at the greatest risk of seeing tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds throughout the day. Strong winds and atmospheric instability were expected to sweep across the central Plains during the day before pushing into the mid-Atlantic states and northeast by evening. Many of the storms were expected to become supercells, with the potential to produce tornadoes, large hail and destructive winds. source:newser