Chicago weather: Strong storms hit north suburbs, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds
Rain causes event delays, closure | Lightning damages apartment building on West Side
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A second round of storms hit the Chicago area on Sunday evening, prompting severe weather alerts after rain and thunder caused event delays and cancellations in the morning and early afternoon hours.
The Sunday evening storms started hitting our northern suburbs and parts of Wisconsin around 5:30 p.m. and lingered as they pushed east, ABC7 Chicago Meteorologist Mark McGinnis said.
The main threats for those storms were heavy rain and lightning. The strongest storms were capable of producing hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes.
The storms prompted a Tornado Warning and a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Lake and McHenry counties, but those alerts expired by 7:30 p.m.
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The south end of the line of storms in Wisconsin started bringing showers and thundershowers western and central areas of McHenry County by 6 p.m. McGinnis said. They hit Lake County by 6:30 p.m.
McGinnis said there was some rotation visible via radar north of Wauconda at 6:30 p.m. as the system continues to travel east at 30 mph.
Our ABC7 AccuWeather team is continuing to monitor more storms further south on Sunday evening.
This comes after the first round of showers hit the Chicago area between 9:30 a.m. and noon.
The National Weather Service said showers and thunderstorms were advancing across northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana at about 11 a.m. with the strongest storms along and east of Interstate 57. A ground stop was issued for departures at O'Hare Airport and expired at 10:45 a.m.
NWS said the strongest storms Sunday could bring hail up to penny size with occasional lightning strikes elsewhere.
Non-severe afternoon showers are possible in the Chicago area on Monday and Tuesday, but the rest of the week's forecast is quiet.
Lightning damages apartment building on West Side
Residents say a lightning strike damaged a building in the city's Tri-Taylor neighborhood.
The cleanup was underway on Sunday afternoon near Taylor and Ogden after brick collapsed from the building when lightning struck.
People living in the area said they knew something was wrong when they heard just how loud it was during the storm.
Angela, a resident of the apartment building on Taylor Street, said she heard thunder earlier Sunday before the lightning strike.
"There was a huge thunderclap and with it was a big flash. So I am thinking I saw it when it hit. And the third floor, the front of the building, caught fire," Angela said. "The thunderclap was so loud. That's all I heard. And I was looking at the lighting. I never saw it so bright."
That fire extended into the front second-floor apartment, which officials say was empty.
"They had to knock down that beautiful top of the building. That's sad," Angela said.
Both directions of Taylor Street near Ogden had to be shut down during the response. Crews later boarded up the building while clearing out the debris from the area.
Two people were evacuated from the building, and they were not injured.
Lightning is also blamed for a fire at a suburban Plainfield Middle School.
The Joliet Fire Department crews worked to put out the fire at Timber Ridge Middle School on Bronk Road. They say when crews got there, they saw flames coming from the roof.
No one was hurt, and the last day of school for Timber Ridge was Friday.
Weather causes delays, closures
The Maxwell Street Market closed early due to weather conditions on Sunday. It was only open for about two hours, but some people still had the chance to check it out.
The market returned to its original home on Maxwell Street Sunday for the first time in 30 years. It will take place on the last Sunday of each month until the end of October.
Rain delayed the start the Sueños Festival's second day in Grant Park from noon until about 4 p.m.
Rain also delayed the start of the Indianapolis 500 for four hours on Sunday afternoon.
Fans were evacuated from the grandstands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway about 90 minutes before the scheduled 12:45 p.m. EDT start of the race, at which point the worst of the storm was expected to arrive. The race eventually began later Sunday.
The Associated Press and the CNN Wire contributed to this report.
