Chicago weather: Strong wind gusts damage buildings, down trees, power lines in north suburbs
Storms possible Sunday, snow chance Monday
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Officials were warning Chicago-area residents Friday to take caution due to high winds.
A High Wind Warning expired at 4 p.m.
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The National Weather Service said winds were expected to be between 30 to 35 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph.
CTA Blue Line service was temporarily suspended between Harlem and Grand avenues because of debris on the tracks.
The windy conditions also led to a tree blocking the Union Pacific North line in Lake Forest, disrupting service.
The Charles Walsh Academy and Career Tech School on Touhy Avenue in Niles had a huge chunk of its roof blown off.
"My guess is the edge metal came off first, and it's kind of like a wind sail when the wind gets underneath, air. It's pulling with all that force, and it all comes together because it's all laid together," said Dan Wilk, a roofing contractor with Roofing Source.
The north and northwest suburbs have been particularly hard hit, as wind gusts sometimes in excess of 60 miles an hour pummeled the area.
"I heard the wind this morning, and I knew it was going to be pretty crazy when we came out," suburban resident Abbi Blaze said.
In Waukegan, high winds downed power lines along North Chapel Road.
In Skokie, there was significant damage to a building from the wind. It appears a wall caved in. The building's facade and bricks were crumbling down.
In north suburban Lincolnwood, a portion of Harding Street was blocked off after an enormous tree fell onto a house and smashed a white Mercedes.
"Winds are very significant at this time. At this point, this should be going all day," Lincolnwood Fire Battalion Chief Bryan Graham said.
In the 100-block of Fellows Court in Elmhurst, part of the roof was blown off an apartment building. No one was injured or displaced, fire officials said.
Suburban residents hope the wind dies down soon.
"I actually feel like there aren't four seasons. Because after winter, we have like full spring, and then second winter, and then extra full spring and third winter. It takes a while before it gets warm," Danny Bauer said.
The high winds led to the Federal Aviation Administration briefly issuing a ground stop at O'Hare airport.
Friday morning, Indiana State Police said they banned semis on double and triple trailers between the Illinois/Indiana state line and U.S. 31 in South Bend.
Two trucks rolled over on Interstate 65, state police said.
ComEd said as of 4 p.m., there were about 22,000 customers without power, mainly in the northern region. ComEd said at one point, as many as 68,000 customers were without power.
NIPSCO said over 22,000 were without power.
The high winds come after devastating and deadly tornadoes moved through the Chicago area earlier this week.
ABC7 Chicago meteorologists are issuing an AccuWeather Alert for Sunday due to the chance of storms from midday into the early evening hours.
Parts of the area fall under a level one and level two risk of severe weather.
Damaging wind is the main concern.
Rain will change to snow Sunday night into Monday.
Some accumulation will be possible, especially for the west and northern parts of the area. Some of the modeling shows anywhere from 1 to 4 inches of snow in those areas.
