Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Chicago area overnight; 3 hurt in Evanston when tree falls on car

Another round of severe thunderstorms is rolling through the Chicago area overnight, snarling the start of Fourth of July celebrations and bringing lightning, torrential downpours and high winds.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, and Will counties in Illinois and Lake, Newton, Porter, Jasper and Benton counties in Indiana until 2 a.m. 

A Flood Watch is also in effect for Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Will, Grundy, Kendall, Kane, Lake and La Salle counties in Illinois and Lake County in Indiana until 4 a.m.

Winds of up to and over 80 miles per hour have were reported, as well as many reports of downed branches and trees, and flooding throughout Chicago and most suburbs. 

In Evanston, roads were blocked by large downed tree limbs that toppled onto cars. Three people were hurt, including at least one person who firefighters said was impaled when a branch broke through the windshield in the 800-block of Brown Street. 

Fire officials said three people were in the car at the time. They were taken to a local hospital for treatment, where their conditions have stabilized. No further information was immediately available. 

Power outages are also being reported, and ComEd says more than 59,000 customers without service due to the storms as of 10 p.m.

Periods of thunderstorms are likely to continue through Saturday morning and into the day, but a full washout of the holiday weekend is not expected. Still, it may be a good idea to have indoor backup plans in place for the Fourth of July. 

The biggest risks for Friday's storms are wind gusts over 60 miles per hour, torrential rain and dangerous lightning. Areas around the DuPage River are at the highest risk for flooding. But the storms will also break the heat wave that has hovered over the Chicago area all week, with more seasonal summer temperatures over the weekend and calmer and cooler next week.

Severe storms force July Fourth fireworks rescheduling

Multiple July 3 fireworks shows scheduled for Friday night have been canceled due to severe weather.

Celebrations in Aurora, Deerfield, Highland Park, Oak Brook and more have been canceled because of the storms, flooding and lightning risks.