The odds of any one spot getting hit by a tornado are astronomical.
But getting hit by the same tornado twice in a matter of minutes? This unlikely disaster befell one neighbourhood near Chicago to close out the month of July.
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A line of severe thunderstorms ripped through northern Illinois during the afternoon and evening hours on Monday, July 27.
Conditions were favourable for quick, spin-up tornadoes to form within the organized complex of thunderstorms. Officials confirmed at least six twisters in the Chicago suburbs as the severe weather pushed across the region.
But one of those tornadoes was anything but common.
A twister touched down at 1:47 p.m. CDT along Interstate 57 just outside of Tinley Park, about 35 km southwest of downtown Chicago.
The tornado continued moving east for several minutes before abruptly curving toward the northeast, hooking back toward the west, and looping around to travel southeast until it lifted around 2:03 p.m. CDT.
Several homes near the intersection of 169th Street and Anthony Ave. were struck twice by the same tornado within the span of just a few minutes.
Thankfully, despite EF-1 damage from estimated maximum winds of about 175 km/h, no injuries or fatalities were reported.
This tornado’s unusual loop-de-loop was likely the result of a mesoscale convective vortex, which is essentially a small-scale centre of low pressure that can develop within an intense cluster of thunderstorms.
Based on radar data, the tornado appeared to move a bit slower than the overall storm complex, allowing it to perform a sharp orbit around that tiny area of low pressure.
Illinois has been hit especially hard by tornadoes this year, racking up nearly one-fifth of all 1,000+ reported touchdowns across the U.S.
A high-end EF-4 tornado that hit Enid, Oklahoma, back on April 23 also doubled-back on its own track twice near peak intensity.
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