Science & Nature
Chicago Braces for Extreme Heat, Destructive Storms. Temps Will Feel Like 100 and Winds Could Top 75MPH
(Thomas Campone / iStock)
Chicagoans should prepare for multiple rounds of thunderstorms and uncomfortably hot and humid conditions on Wednesday and Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
“Both days are complex,” Mike Bardou, with the Chicago office of the weather service, said during a briefing Wednesday afternoon.
Temperatures will top 90 degrees Wednesday, and feel like 100, but the real threat will come from straight-line winds that could reach 80 miles per hour, with the potential to uproot trees, according to the weather service.
The first round of storms on Wednesday will affect the Chicago region between 3-6 p.m., forecasters are predicting. A second round could follow after 7 p.m., but the threat for severe weather will be lower, Bardou said, and things should settle down by midnight.
On Thursday, “all severe hazards are in play,” he said, including tornadoes, damaging hail and high winds, and flash flooding.
The main window for active weather Thursday begins at 3 p.m.
Localized rain totals over the two days could top 4 inches, the weather service said.
“We've got a lot of moisture in the atmosphere to work with,” and 1 to 2 inches could fall in an hour if the storm system holds together that long, Bardou said.
“If the heaviest rain rates overlap with urban areas, flash flooding could be locally significant,” the weather service said.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
