Kane County was among the places hard hit by high winds and severe weather in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday.

Kane County communities are mentioned three times in the early local storm report from the National Weather Service Chicago.

• At 12:54 a.m. in Sugar Grove, spotters reported wind gusts of 56 mph.
• At 12:54 a.m. in Aurora, high winds pushed a tree down onto a car, with the time estimated by radar and surrounding observations.
• At 12:55 a.m. in Aurora, wind gusts were measured at 59 mph.

Other communities throughout Northern Illinois reported similar damage and high winds. Ottawa, which was hit so hard by a tornado touchdown just a week ago, saw a large tree downed onto Illinois Highway 71 and poles and power lines “downed and bent.”

• Do you have photos of storm damage in Kane County that you’re willing to share? Email kanecountyconnects@gmail.com.

Quarter-sized hail came down in the Sycamore / DeKalb area at IL Route 23 and IL Route 64. Tree limbs 3 inches to 4 inches in diameter were down at that intersection.

A semi-trailer truck was reported “blown over” on I-65 near Mile Marker 200 in the Remington / Jasper area at around 2:25 a.m.

The highest wind gust so far was 73 mph at a home weather station in the Sandwich / DeKalb area.

These are just the preliminary observations, updated at 5:45 a.m. Tuesday (March 7, 2017) on the NWS Chicago website.

Weather Drill Today

Just a reminder that you’ll likely hear sirens as part of a statewide weather drill at 10 a.m. today (Tuesday). In the wake of last night storms, it’s probably a good reminder that this is a test.

• Editor’s Note: The feature photo for this article is a file photo of lightning. It is NOT a photo taken during Tuesday night’s storm. If you have images from last night’s storm and wish to share them with Kane County Connects, email kanecountyconnects@gmail.com.