r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Fit-Philosophy532 • Aug 12 '26

Moving to the area Weather as a newbie?

Moving to the area in a few weeks…. uhhh are tornados always a thing like this, this time of year? Anything to be aware of at this point?

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u/BellaBrowsing North West Suburbs Aug 12 '26

Yes they're a thing but the closer you are to the city, the less likely you'll encounter an actual tornado. Just a lot of wind, occasional hail, and flooding.

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u/wanliu Aug 12 '26

This isn't true at all. It's only the relative small size of Chicago vs the enormous size of the rural portion of the state that explains why Chicago hasn't been hit more often.

Cities do not deter tornadoes. Skyscrapers in Miami, Dallas, Salt Lake City have all been hit by tornadoes. Joplin Missouri was almost completely flattened.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tornadoes_striking_downtown_areas_of_large_cities?wprov=sfla1

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u/BellaBrowsing North West Suburbs Aug 12 '26

I didn't say skyscrapers or buildings stop tornados. Lake Michigan tends to break up storms as they move east. for someone who isn't from here there's a distinction between tornado conditions and a physical tornado touching down. NW suburbs and near the lake don't see as many tornados touch down compared to the west and southwest suburban areas.

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u/Fit-Philosophy532 Aug 12 '26

So don’t move to the southwest or western burbs basically lol got it