Some Chicago-area residents woke up Wednesday morning to rain and humidity, with trees and branches down after thunderstorms with lightning, hail and heavy rain hit some areas Tuesday night and into the night.
According to NBC 5’s Storm Team, another round of showers and thunderstorms was forecast for Wednesday.
“The ongoing storms in northern Illinois will continue to move southward through the evening,” the National Weather Service said in a message sent to X Tuesday night. “These storms can produce gusty winds and small hail as well as frequent lightning and heavy rain, which could lead to localized flash flooding.”
Rainfall from Tuesday night’s storms was particularly high in McHenry County, NBC 5 meteorologist Alicia Roman reported, while Woodstock recorded 2.5 inches of rain. Farther west, residents in Garden Prairie recorded up to 5.6 inches of rain, Roman said.
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Rain continued Wednesday morning, with scattered showers expected in some areas during the early morning hours. In other parts of the region, the weather was mostly dry and cloudy, Roman said.
However, by 1 p.m., showers and thunderstorms are expected to return to southern counties, Roman said.
“Grundy, Kankakee, Will, northwest Indiana,” Roman said of the counties expected to see rain around that time.
Isolated rain or thunderstorms could hit Chicago around 4 p.m., Roman said. Around 6 p.m., rain is expected to hit southern Cook County before moving outward.
According to Roman, counties south of Chicago were under a “marginal” risk of severe weather Wednesday, which is a level one out of five on the Storm Prediction Center’s severe weather forecast scale.
“Heavy rain and strong winds will remain the main threats this afternoon,” Roman said.
Wednesday’s temperatures will be slightly below average, with a high of 80 degrees expected at O’Hare. In Chicago, highs are expected to reach just the low 70s, Roman said.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be drier and sunnier, Roman said, with highs of 21 and 29 degrees. On Sunday, rain was back in the forecast, along with higher humidity and warmer temperatures, setting up a run of days near 32 degrees.
NBC Chicago
