Tornadoes Sweep Through Midwest

2 Dead After Unseasonably Warm Temperatures Create Destructive Storms

(CBS/AP)  Killer tornadoes don't care about the calendar - or anything that gets in their way.

A freak cluster of tornadoes raked across an unseasonably warm Midwest, demolishing houses, knocking railroad cars off their tracks and even temporarily halting justice in one courthouse.

The town of Wheatland, 70 miles north of Chicago, took a particularly hard hit with residents reporting 10-12 homes leveled, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

In the quiet after the storm as the town started taking stock, many were feeling grateful that no one had died here. Although a number of families will be starting pretty much from scratch, Bowers reports.

In the moments before the storm hit Wheatland, Wisc., Bob LeStarge and his family were huddled in what was their basement, knowing they might not make it out.

"I grabbed my niece and I thought 'OK here we go.' It was terrifying," LeStarge told Bowers.

Record temperatures were reported across much of the country Monday, and storms continued to pummel the nation's midsection as darkness fell. More warmth and storms were in store for Tuesday.

According to the National Weather Service, this is only the second time since 1844 that January tornadoes have been reported in this part of the country, reports Bowers.

Tornadoes were reported or suspected Monday in southwest Missouri, southeastern Wisconsin, Arkansas, Illinois and Oklahoma. Two people were killed in Missouri.

Eleven houses in Wisconsin's Kenosha County were destroyed, five others had heavy damage and four had moderate damage, authorities said. About 13 people were injured, none seriously.

"I have never seen damage like this in the summertime when we have potential for tornadoes," Sheriff David Beth said. "To see something like this in January is mind-boggling to me. This is just unimaginable to me."

Tim Carpentier was among the Kenosha residents whose homes had tornado damage. He said he and his daughters, 13 and 15 years old, heard storm warnings just after getting home. Then he heard a roar.

"I was just running down the stairs as the front windows blew out," he said. The front of his house was flipped over the roof, and neighboring houses had collapsed roofs and natural gas leaks.

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce E. Schroeder, presiding over opening testimony in a murder trial, said he couldn't believe it when a deputy said the courtroom had to be evacuated because of a tornado warning.

"It's a first," he said while waiting with 300 people in the basement. "I've actually had.... warnings occur during jury trials before and frankly I just ignored them. But not in January."

Beckie Gilbert, a secretary who works in Wheatland, watched from her company's back door as wispy funnel clouds grew and the tornado uprooted about five trees.

"We saw it in the distance, which wasn't far, and it was pretty scary," she said. "We were watching as it picked up dirt and got really dark, and then it disappeared over some trees."

Meteorologists said the unusual weather was the result of warm, moist air moving from the south. It brought temperatures hovering near 70 degrees on Sunday and Monday.

The severe weather was fueled by historic highs.

A January heat wave that at 63 degrees, shattered Milwaukee's previous January 10th record by 16 degrees. Chicago and Toledo broke 101-year-old records, reports Bowers.

"It's very unseasonable for this time of year," said National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Sipprell. "The atmosphere is just right."

About six homes were destroyed in the small town of Poplar Grove, Ill., where authorities rescued motorists trapped by downed, live electrical lines and crews searched damaged structures to make sure no one was trapped. Three people suffered minor injuries, Boone County Sheriff's Lt. Perry Gay said.

About 15 miles away in Harvard, Ill., a suspected tornado derailed one locomotive and 12 freight cars. A tank car containing shock fluid leaked for hours before it was contained, and another derailed car contained ethylene oxide, a flammable material widely used to sterilize medical supplies, but was not leaking, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.

Authorities ordered about 500 residents to evacuate the nearby unincorporated town of Lawrence, said Capt. David Shepherd with the McHenry County Sheriff's Office. No injuries were reported, he said.

Elsewhere, the heat was making history. By about noon Monday, Chicago's temperature already had hit 64 degrees, breaking a previous record-high of 59 degrees set on Jan. 7, 1907, according to the weather service.

The high in Buffalo, N.Y., of 59 degrees beat the old record for the date by 5 degrees. The high was 66 in Toledo, Ohio, a record that led some University of Toledo students to stroll to class in T-shirts, flip-flops and shorts. In New Jersey, the Atlantic City International Airport recorded a high of 68 degrees, breaking a 10-year-old record by 10 degrees.

Six snowmobilers missing in the Colorado mountains for 2 ½ days while a howling blizzard swirled around them were rescued Monday - hungry and cold but unhurt - after taking shelter in a cozy cabin and calling 911 on a cell phone when the storm eased up.

The group, consisting of two couples and two teenagers, broke into the cabin, where they huddled around a gas grill and dined on popcorn and chicken bouillon they found inside.

"We counted 18 blankets. We were cozy," 31-year-old Shannon Groen said after rescue crews on snowmobiles brought the group to safety. "God was looking out for us.

[cantshutup]

In the 1800''s there was a blizzard called the Schoolhouse Blizzard that killed hundreds of children in the midwest...Children went off to their one room schoolhouses without coats because of the 70 degree weather...By the time school was letting out, those living on the plains could see the storm clouds rolling in...Some tried to make it home, others tried to wait it out in the schoolhouses...The temperature plummeted and the blizzard like conditions killed many children and their teachers...google it, it''s true!

[raskal_2]

Global warming has nothing to do with individual storm systems no matter how strong or misplaced they happen to be. They may be influenced in minor ways by global warming but you cannot say that global warming caused that "big storm", or "perfect storm" or any other storm.
Storms are the result of the interplay of heat, or lack there of, wind and moisture. It is these primary ingrediants that are being influenced by global warming and you nor any government has the prowess to stop it. sorry to disappoint.

[rushlimpdrug]

Thanks mike71067 for dispelling GLOBAL WARMING with your scientific facts.
I will go out and buy that SUV now.

[rudy654-2009]

This ISN''''T the first time this has happened. And who''''s to say it will be the last. The weather is unpredictable. Global warming alarmists need to realize this. Posted by mike71067 at 08:07 AM

I think that your leading off with denial of what is an established fact, is a demonstration of how much it scares you and how you feel denial will somehow keep you safe.

[al2008-2009]

I%u2019m appalled at the Wisconsin governor''s lack of response to the global warming thunderstorms.
We have no comprehensive strategy in place whatsoever, let alone a detailed plan of action to mitigate these storms, and mother earth continues to suffer while the governor''s office is out to lunch.
.
We the citizens call upon the governor to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these storms continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these storms decrease in intensity. We need action now.

Absolutely. One freak warm spell does not prove Global Climate Change. One cold spell does not disprove it.
But the long-term trends do show that GCC is real. Even The Decider has conceded that reality.

[rwassel]

No you''re right, mike. It''s not global warming. It''s...

TERRORISTS!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!

I feel very confident that some middle-easterners were behind this, perhaps this was even caused by Saddam''s weapons of mass destruction. As a precaution, we should invade Turkey.

Raise the terror-level alert to RED! Maybe we should suspend the consitution again, and just have W be president awhile longer...

[mike71067]

It''s GLOBAL WARMING!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Incidentally, from the article, "According to the National Weather Service, this is only the second time since 1844 that January tornadoes have been reported in this part of the country, reports Bowers."

This ISN''T the first time this has happened. And who''s to say it will be the last. The weather is unpredictable. Global warming alarmists need to realize this.