Stormy Midwest

Chicagoist nervously waited out yesterday afternoon and evening for the promised tumultuous storms in the forecast - Should we walk to the supermarket? Should we start up the grill? - but they never came. Central Illinois and Wisconsin, on the other hand, were not so lucky. The National Weather Service reported tornadoes, high winds and softball-sized hail throughout the area. SOFTBALL-SIZED?!?! eeep! A Parsons Company manufacturing plant in Roanoke, 20 miles east of Peoria, was levelled by one of two tornadoes that touched down. Luckily all employees got out and avoided injury.