Chicago Weather: Morning thunderstorms down trees, power lines in north suburbs
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Morning thunderstorms left damage in their wake in the northern suburbs Wednesday, but a second round failed to materialize in the afternoon.
Much of the Chicago area was under a Level 2 risk for severe weather, with areas in the far western suburbs at a Level 1 risk and a Level 3 risk for parts of Indiana.
The morning storms moved through the Chicago area between 8 a.m. and about noon Wednesday. By 1:30 p.m. the storms had moved out over Lake Michigan.
The morning storms that blew through the north and northwest suburbs were brief but mighty. In Lake Bluff, a large tree toppled onto a home.
"The sky got really dark and the storm, winds started picking up and what sounded like a car accident was the tree crashing into my house," said Kristen Schlenz, homeowner.
There were also widespread heavy downpours and high winds. Crews worked to restore power outages in Lake and McHenry counties. In Mundelein the wind downed several power lines, and in Wauconda police closed a long stretch of Rand Road due to downed power lines in the roadway.
ABC7 Meteorologist Larry Mowry said there was potential for severe weather Wednesday night, including conditions that could be favorable for tornadoes, but by 6:40 p.m. the severe chances had dropped to near zero. There were some pop up storms near the Wisconsin border, but dissipated without gaining strength and moving into the Chicago area.
The high winds led to Metra UP-North stopping all inbound and outbound trains about 10 a.m. They began moving again shortly after the stoppage.
Wednesday will also be very warm, with heat indices near 100 in places, particularly the southern suburbs.
Later storm could pop up between 3 and 9 p.m., ABC7 Chicago meteorologist Larry Mowry said.
Hail and wind remain the greatest threat, but an isolated tornado is possible.
Emergency officials on Wednesday also gave an update after assessing storm damage from storms earlier this month, after flash flooding damaged homes in Cook County.
