I have never seen a storm like this in my life.

Golf-ball sized hail and a huge amount of water at the same time, lasting ~15 minutes.

It was pretty much deafening, and then it got louder.

I have no idea what it's going to look like when things die down. I'd imagine that anyone with plants outside has some work ahead of them, at the least. No concept of what it must have been like to be caught on a bike in this . . .

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on July 1, 2011 at 7:55am

Extreme weather. Stupid humans keep polluting the environment. End is near. YAY! :P

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on July 1, 2011 at 12:03pm

Before that a sand storm on North ave. beach and with the counter clockwise winds I bet there was something "tornado like" as the storm formed and came straight off Lake Michigan.

I've been in high winds in the city before but usually it wind tunnels down the street between buildings this was out of the high rise areas.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 1, 2011 at 12:11pm

I got a description from someone who was in River North last night that sounded like a small tornado.

Mike Zumwalt said:

Before that a sand storm on North ave. beach and with the counter clockwise winds I bet there was something "tornado like" as the storm formed and came straight off Lake Michigan.

I've been in high winds in the city before but usually it wind tunnels down the street between buildings this was out of the high rise areas.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 1, 2011 at 12:14pm

A story on WBEZ makes it sound even worse than other news stories I heard this morning. A channel 7 news story tonight said that there is insurance, but it won't cover everything. The conservatory will probably need a lot of help to rebuild.

Last night's storm was yet another reason for me to really REALLY appreciate my helmet.

H3N3 said:

Garfield Park Conservatory lost 1/2 its glass, reportedly:

http://chicago.everyblock.com/announcements/jul01-garfield-park-con...

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Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on July 1, 2011 at 3:48pm

For all who were out in the hail - might not be a bad idea to inspect your helmet to make sure there are no cracks in it and its still viable. Just a thought. Glad everybody made it home ok.