Storm spawns twisters, downs power lines and leaves considerable damage in its wake

A powerful, 2,200-mile-wide wind storm plowed across the middle of the country Tuesday, spawning tornadoes and brutal wind gusts stretching from the front range of the Rocky Mountains to the eastern Great Lakes.

"It's a huge storm, and it's dominating the wind pattern and the weather over a big chunk of North America," said WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling in Chicago. "And we're not done with this storm yet. The wind is going to blow for another couple days."

Wind gusts Tuesday were in excess of 60 miles per hour in parts of the Midwest, and several tornadoes were reported in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Utility companies in Indiana, Illinois and the St. Louis area reported more than 80,000 homes and businesses were without power. To the west, North Dakota was expecting its first significant snowfall of the season, with the National Weather Service saying up to 10 inches of snow could fall in some areas by early Wednesday.

Skilling said that with the center of the storm over northern Minnesota, barometric pressure readings hit an all-time low for that state - 28.40 inches.

"The barometric pressures underscore that this storm is really in the top tier in terms of intensity," Skilling said.

While reports of scattered damage trickled in, many in Chicago began doubting what had been billed as one of the biggest storms in decades. Some Midwesterners on Twitter - who had earlier been talking about a "Chiclone" and "Windpocalypse" - dismissed the storm as a classic case of meteorological hype.

Skilling said doubters of the storm's seriousness should hold their tongues.

"Wind damage is famously non-homogenous, so you'll have some areas hit hard and some not," he said. "Any wind that comes into a heavily populated area encounters frictional drag from the buildings, so it may not seem as intense to people in the city. But I always hold my breath and wait to hear what comes in after these things in terms of damage."

High winds caused 300 flight cancellations Tuesday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a major hub for American and United airlines, and tourists in downtown Chicago were barred from the skydeck observatory of Willis Tower, the nation's tallest building.

At DuPage Airport in West Chicago, high winds flipped over three single-engine planes that were tied down outside. "I'm not a mechanic, but they don't look very good," said Mark Doles, director of operations at the airport.

And in Mount Pleasant, Wis., the wind blew the roof off a tractor plant.

Sheryl Uthemann, 49, of South Milwaukee, was working first shift at the Case New Holland plant when the storm blew through about 8 a.m. and started to lift up the roof.

"It was just a regular work day and all of a sudden that noise just came and (co-workers) said 'Run! Run! Run!' You didn't have time to think," she said. "I looked up where the noise was coming from and saw pieces of the roof sucked up. I've never been more scared, ever."