Severe storms rolled into the Chicago area Friday night after a foggy start and a dry, warm afternoon, setting off multiple Tornado Warnings and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings between 7:30 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. across the city, suburbs, Southwest Wisconsin and Northwest Indiana.
ABC7 AccuWeather meteorologists said a line of potentially severe storms began moving into the far western suburbs between 5 and 7 p.m. and reached the city closer to 9 p.m., bringing heavy rain and strong winds as the Storm Prediction Center put most of the Chicago area under a Level 3 Risk for severe weather, with Northwest Indiana at Level 2 Risk.
The storms also triggered Flash Flood Warnings across the region until early Saturday and caused delays at Chicago’s airports. A Ground Stop at O'Hare went into effect at 8:16 p.m. and lasted until 10:45 p.m., while a Ground Delay began at 8 p.m. and continued until 2 a.m. Saturday.
Damage reports came in from outside the city as well. Tornado damage was reported in Lena, Illinois, and a strong storm was caught on camera in Wonder Lake, while apparent funnel clouds were seen in Roscoe and Rockton. Gov. JB Pritzker said he had been briefed on the Lena damage and the warnings across the state, adding that IEMA was on the ground and in communication with officials to offer support.
Flooding remained the next concern as the night wore on. A Flood Warning stayed in effect for Cook County until 5:15 a.m. Saturday, and a separate warning covered Kane, Kendall, Lake and McHenry counties until 5:30 a.m. A Flood Watch for the Chicago area remained in place until 5 a.m. Saturday, with residents along the Des Plaines River bracing for rising water as more rain moved in. The northwest suburbs had already been dealing with some flooding earlier in the week, and Friday’s storms only added to the pressure.
What hit the region Friday was not just another round of rain. It was a severe-weather system that disrupted travel, raised the threat of tornadoes and left flooding as the immediate problem going into Saturday morning.