Storms rumble through Chicago area, bringing heavy rain and strong winds
Two rounds of storms that brought heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 70 mph blew through the Chicago area on Thursday, causing flooding in some areas, and prompting a tornado watch for several hours, but no reports of any confirmed tornadoes as of late Thursday night.
At times, the second storm front that rolled through Thursday evening was moving east at up to 65 mph. Wind gusts of up to 70 mph were reported as the storms blew through.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 11 p.m. for Cook, DuPage, Grundy, and Will counties.
A tornado watch that had been in effect for most of the night in northern Illinois has been cancelled.
Residents in Ogle County, just south of Rockford, ran for shelter as tornado warning sirens sounded and high winds from the storm took down trees and power lines near the town of Holcomb.
It was not immediately clear if a confirmed tornado touched down, but there were reports of roof damage. Residents described the storm as pretty intense.
"It's pretty bad. There's a bunch of power lines down. It's pretty flooded," Josie Winters said. "Our dumpster got knocked over. There's some people with roof damage. Hail damage to cars I've seen as well."
Part of a grain elevator also collapsed in Holcomb, sending some debris onto nearby train tracks. It was unclear what impact it would have on train travel in the area. There were no reports of injuries.
Intermittent flooding on I-190, which connects the Kennedy Expressway to O'Hare International Airport, caused problems for much of the day. It took crews hours to clear a storm drain and make the Mannheim Road ramp on I-190 passable after it flooded Thursday morning. Around 2:45 p.m., city officials said inbound I-190 was down to one lane near the Mannheim exit due to flooding, but all lanes reopened by about 5 p.m.
A ground stop is in effect until 10:15 p.m. at O'Hare, and another is in effect at Midway International Airport until 10:30 p.m.
More than 700 flights had been cancelled at O'Hare as of 9:30 p.m., with another 1,400 flights delayed, and delays averaging 53 minutes. At Midway, only two flights had been cancelled, with more than 200 flights delayed, and delays averaging nearly two hours.
ComEd was reporting nearly 7,900 outages in northern Illinois as of 9:30 p.m., mostly in Cook, Ogle, and DuPage counties.
The greater Chicago area has already seen its fair share of severe storms this year. Just last month, the National Weather Service confirmed 12 tornadoes across Illinois and Indiana.
Tornadoes have always been an issue in the Chicago area, but activity has been intense in some recent years. In the summer of 2024, more than 30 tornadoes touched down across the Chicago area in one day.
In west suburban Aurora, public works employees spent the day preparing for the severe weather. City crews swept streets and cleared clogged drains and storm sewers so that the coming rainfall and storm damage would not be compounded by existing conditions.
Water and Sewer Department worker Crispin Paustian said debris gets into the storm drain system during the winter, causing clogs and backups. And that work will continue during and after the storms, too.
"Sometimes it happens in random places. It's never the same place," he said.
Homeowners have a part to play in storm preparation too.
"If there's a drain in front of your house and you see the leaves on it before it starts raining, you can clean them off," he said. "I mean, that would help tremendously."
The White Sox home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays has also been postponed due to the weather Thursday. The game has been rescheduled for Friday afternoon, and anyone who paid for a ticket for parking can use it on Friday.
