CHICAGO — Tuesday’s severe weather push has been building all day, and by late evening the message from Misryoum is basically this: tornado danger is winding down, but the ground is already soaked.
Right around nightfall, alarms and advisories started stacking up, the kind of weather that makes you keep refreshing your phone without even realizing it. One moment you’re thinking about hail, the next you’re watching flood language take over.
Misryoum newsroom reported that all Tornado Watches in NE Illinois have been cancelled as of 11:23 p.m., and all Severe Thunderstorm Warnings have also expired. But the flood concern continues—especially in areas that received heavy rain earlier. Misryoum editorial desk noted that a Flash Flood Warning (teal box over N Cook & N DuPage) is in effect until 3:45 AM, with All counties shaded in green in a Flood Watch due to excessive rainfall and saturated soil from previous rain. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain have fallen, and worsening of flood impacts is occurring or imminent.
Even before that, Misryoum newsroom reported the threat was evolving fast. At 11:05 p.m., Misryoum meteorologist Emily Wahls said flooding is becoming a concern with heavy downpours moving through the same areas. The Tornado Watch was cancelled in the far west and NW counties—except Lake (IL), DuPage, Cook, and LaPorte. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning remains in effect until 11:15pm for parts of N/central Cook and NE DuPage.
By 10:37 p.m., Misryoum newsroom reported the line of thunderstorms would continue to drift east and southeast across northern and northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana overnight. Though strong storms were possible, the severe threat appeared to be lessening. Earlier warnings hit parts of Cook and DuPage, and then expanded across counties including Kane and Lake. The storm system could bring 70 mph winds, with Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued for places including DeKalb and Kane and, at one point, tornado-related watch language expanded for Cook County and DuPage County until midnight.
Misryoum analysis indicates Tuesday wasn’t just a one-hazard situation. Two rounds of severe storms were expected today: the first bringing hail and damaging winds mainly south of I-80 this afternoon, then a broader second round this evening that could include all severe hazards, including tornadoes. The setup comes after severe storms on Monday dropped damaging tornadoes and hail across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas. Misryoum editorial team stated an active spring weather pattern has developed across the Central U.S. with severe thunderstorms likely throughout the week.
Looking ahead, Misryoum newsroom reported a Level 3 out of 5 severe storm risk is in effect across parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, including Chicago and Milwaukee, with the window for the most severe weather between 5 p.m. and midnight. A warm front is expected to be re-established across the Level 3 threat area, amplifying storms. Conditions are expected to produce hail larger than 2 inches in diameter starting mid-to-late afternoon, and Misryoum analysis indicates supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes EF-2 or higher could form along or south of the warm front. And then, as evening progresses, the threat can shift toward damaging wind as storms congeal into a fast-moving line across the Great Lakes.
In the background of all that, the weather has had an almost physical feeling—humid air pressing against windows, the sudden smell of wet pavement after a heavy burst. Even now, with tornado watches cancelled for much of NE Illinois, Misryoum newsroom noted flash flooding remains a real concern.
Misryoum newsroom also laid out what comes next: Wednesday could bring a third round of storms for the central U.S., with storms shifting toward the Mississippi River Valleys and the potential for damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes primarily across a corridor that includes Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, western Missouri, eastern Iowa, western Illinois and parts of southern Wisconsin. There’s also a Level 1 out of 4 risk of flash flooding covering that same corridor from Texas to Michigan.
For Chicago specifically, Wednesday could start with a few lingering showers in the morning, and a thunderstorm is certainly possible at almost any time of day. Highs will be in the mid to upper 70s. The higher chance for a stronger thunderstorm arrives during the evening with all hazards once again in play, but perhaps not as widespread or as intense as tonight’s setup. After early morning showers end on Thursday, there should be some quiet time, with highs again well into the 70s. Then Friday starts dry, before another storm system arrives late in the day and at night… and if that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is—several days in a row where the atmosphere keeps finding new ways to turn unstable.
Spoelstra slams Ball for Adebayo trip call
Vacaville Crash Sends One to Hospital; Point Arena Collision Injures Three