Science & Nature
Storms Dumped Record Rainfall Onto Chicago, and More Precipitation Is on the Way
(Thomas Campone / iStock)
Chicago shattered a nearly 80-year-old daily record for rainfall Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Thunderstorms dumped 2.43 inches of rain at O’Hare Airport, Chicago’s official weather station. The previous record for precipitation on April 14 was 1.21 inches, set in 1949.
It was the wettest April calendar day at O’Hare in more than a decade, the weather service said, and the sixth rainiest April day ever.
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has an “overflow action day” alert in place, encouraging residents to limit household water use in order to increase capacity in combined sewer pipes for stormwater rather than wastewater.
As of Wednesday morning, MWRD’s Deep Tunnel reservoirs were at 85% full and 25% full, for the McCook and Thornton reservoirs, respectively. Multiple “possible” combined sewer overflows — in which sewers discharge directly in waterways such as the Chicago River — were recorded by MWRD on Tuesday but have yet to be confirmed.
Showers continued into Wednesday morning, with the chance of additional thunderstorms in the forecast for the afternoon and evening. The weather service is warning of a flash flooding threat in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, particularly in areas that were hard hit by rain on Tuesday.
Wet conditions are likely to persist through the end of the week until a cold front pushes through on Saturday.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
