The Chicago area could see another round of severe weather Saturday afternoon after two tornadoes tore through, downing trees and causing power outages for thousands.
Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in the morning as communities experienced heavy rain, strong winds and flooding. As of 6 p.m., the rain had not let up everywhere and several streets remained closed due to heavy flooding.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, parts of the Chicago area along the Illinois-Wisconsin border remain at an “enhanced risk” for severe weather as a storm system from Minnesota and Wisconsin heads southeast. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to arrive around 8 p.m., with a chance for isolated tornadoes, damaging winds up to 70 mph, and hail up to an inch in diameter.
With some communities in Lake County seeing extensive flooding, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning, saying “water levels above flood stage are imminent or may already be producing- se” near or along the Des Plaines River.
A tornado likely touched down south of Naperville early Saturday morning, according to data from the National Weather Service. NBC 5’s Jen DeSalvo reports.
At 3:45 p.m., the river was at 11.1 feet. The river is expected to crest near 16 feet by Sunday morning, which is a foot above flood stage. A flash flood warning remains in effect until further notice, according to the NWS.
The threat is not as severe in other nearby communities, although they could also see flash flooding.
Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois, as well as Lake and Porter counties in northwest Indiana, are under a flash flood watch from 7 pm until Sunday morning.
By midnight, the first batch of storms will move in, according to meteorologists with the NBC 5 storm team. But that won’t be the end of the rain.
More showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop in the early morning, from the east around 5am, finally dying off around 10am.
Drier conditions will set in over the next few hours, paving the way for a dry weather pattern over the next few days.