Downed trees were reported in the city, suburbs and northwest Indiana. A tree fell on a car in Lowell, Indiana.
Strong winds knocked down trees and twisted a trampoline.
"The tree just fell and we were really glad that it didn't hit the garage or anything else, but it looks like it completely totaled my vehicle and it also hit our boat over there," said Rose Umleuf.
"Winds came out of nowhere. We were sitting on the front porch and I was like, I better check the trampoline, and it was about three yards down that way," said Tim Kimmet.
In Wisconsin, west of Milwaukee, drivers could see a funnel cloud as they navigated the roads.
Back in the Chicago area the Lappe family got to work as soon as the storm passed.
"My wife looked down and saw the tree down next to her car. We thought it was on her car and we came out and there is no damage, but we wanted to get it cleaned up."
When the storms cleared, however, many were treated to a double rainbow.
The weather affected operations at Chicago's airports. As of 5:30 p.m. O'Hare International Airport reported delays of 1 hour and 12 minutes and 50 flights canceled. Midway International Airport reported delays of less than 15 minutes and three flights canceled.