Chicago weather: Storms bring heavy rain, strong winds to area
Nearly 20,000 without power in Cook County
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Nearly 20,000 people were without power Monday as storms whipped up strong winds and dumped more than two inches of rain in Chicago, which has seen a relatively dry season so far.
The brunt of the storms hit mid-morning with peak gusts of 45 mph at O'Hare International Airport and 48 mph Midway, according to the National Weather Service. More than 2 inches of rain fell in Chicago while some west and southwest suburbs reported over 3 and 4 inches.
By mid-morning, more than 19,000 Cook County residents were without power, ComEd spokeswoman Luz Bottecchia said. Since storms began Sunday, more than 89,000 ComEd customers have lost power.
Electricity had been restored to 81% of them by noon Monday. Outages in Chicago peaked earlier with 33,000 people without power.
Get the latest AccuWeather updates
ABC7 Chicago Meteorologist Tracy Butler issued an AccuWeather Alert for Sunday evening into Monday morning due to possible conditions.
The rain began Sunday morning and continued through the evening, with the higher totals coming in from the southern suburbs, especially areas closer to Interstate 80.
The rain is expected to diminish Monday morning and afternoon, but strong winds will remain, particularly in areas along the lakefront. The winds could lead to waves of up to 12-16 feet in Lake Michigan.
The high waves have led the Chicago Park District to close parts of the Lakefront Trail Monday morning.
A wind advisory is in effect until 3 p.m. for Chicago and areas near the lake. It is in effect until 1 p.m. for areas further inland and in northwest Indiana.
In north suburban Evanston, a large tree came down on Judson Avenue, hitting at least one car and a light pole.
As of about 6 a.m., ComED said 7,019 customers were without power.
A number of watches and warnings have been issued:
Weather Alerts | Live Doppler Radar
Cook County Radar | DuPage County Radar | Will County Radar | Lake County Radar (IL) | Kane County Radar | Northwest Indiana Radar
WLS-TV and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
