Severe thunderstorms pushed through the Midwest on Feb. 8, causing the first February tornado ever recorded in the state of Wisconsin.
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00:00 There's new video that we're getting in of a possible tornado spotted in Henry, Illinois this evening.
00:06 You can see that dark cloud off in the distance and again, very stormy times.
00:11 Believe it or not, we've actually had reports even north of Illinois into Wisconsin,
00:15 making it, as far as tornadoes, the first confirmed tornado on record this evening in the state of Wisconsin for the month of February.
00:25 So that's the first February tornado they've ever had in the Badger State.
00:29 Here's the storm system and you can see it spinning up here as you look across Minnesota.
00:35 So we have had this storm continuing to push its way off towards the northeast.
00:39 It's going to move into Canada.
00:40 Unfortunately, though, where we've had a lot of the issues is farther south.
00:43 You can see some of the lightning strikes here and that is the thunderstorm activity that we've had
00:48 and it is continuing to push its way off to the northeast.
00:51 So we are still dealing with some of this activity surging its way towards Lake Michigan at this point in time.
00:57 And for the latest on it, the good news is we don't have any tornado warnings at this point.
01:02 You can see that storm system, the one that moved through Chicago, that cell is now offshore.
01:07 We still have a lot more thunderstorms, though, a little farther north into the state of Wisconsin.
01:11 I'm going to take off the lightning so we can go there because these are closing in on Milwaukee
01:16 through a lot of the populated suburbs like Kenosha and many areas here.
01:21 We've had whitewater also getting in on some of the strong thunderstorm activity.
01:25 These do have the potential for damaging winds, and we've been keeping an eye on that risk for tornadoes.
01:30 It has occurred, again, further off towards the west.
01:34 We've seen that activity already unfold.
01:36 I'll put on the storm reports.
01:38 And again, this tornado that touched down with these cells,
01:41 one of them was the first February tornado in the state of Wisconsin ever recorded there.
01:47 So this is kind of rare territory that we're in.
01:49 That severe weather threat tonight does continue for portions of the eastern shore there--
01:56 or I should say the western shore there of Lake Michigan and eastern side of Wisconsin there
02:02 as we watch these storms move offshore.
02:04 Heading through the next couple of hours, these winds will start to die down as we wait the cold front
02:09 that's farther off towards the west.
02:10 They've been very blustery, so even outside of the thunderstorm Chicago,
02:14 we've had some very strong winds coming in out of the south,
02:17 which has created some big-time warmth pulling in.
02:20 55 in Chicago.
02:21 Minneapolis, we are now falling on the backside of the storm system,
02:24 but we managed to break a record at 53 degrees today.
02:28 This storm is out of here pretty much as we head throughout much of the day tomorrow.
02:32 There's some showers in and around the Great Lakes,
02:34 but no severe weather threat with this as it departs into Canada.
02:37 So next couple of hours is really all we're watching,
02:40 those storms across parts of lower Michigan before they exit.
02:43 And then tomorrow morning, waking up to some snow across Minnesota,
02:46 probably a welcome sight for many because we haven't had much snow there,
02:50 but it won't lead to much in the way of accumulations around Minneapolis.
02:53 35 degrees there as we head through the day.
02:55 Still in the mid-50s Chicago, but our close is coming on the warmth.
02:59 We'll be near record highs as we head through tomorrow in a place like the Windy City,
03:03 and that could actually tie the record, set back in 1886.
03:07 But farther east, there's also a lot of warmth.
03:10 This is going to stick with us into the weekend in some spots before a big cool-down.