'Chiclone' Rips Midwest

A storm drawing comparisons to a hurricane muscled across the Midwest today, snapping trees and power lines and delaying flights at Chicago's O'Hare. The storm—quickly nicknamed a "chiclone" and "windpocalypse"—swept an area that stretched from the Dakotas to the eastern Great Lakes. Severe thunderstorm warnings blanketed much of the Midwest and tornado watches were issued from Arkansas to Ohio. Tens of thousands of people were left without power.

One meteorologist described the storm as one of the worst in decades based on a reading of the pressure level at its center, which was similar to a Category 3 hurricane—although the effects of the storm were not. The wind gusts were only as strong as a tropical storm; Category 3 hurricanes have winds from 111 mph to 130 mph. Click here for more. (More storm stories.)