A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of the Chicago area Tuesday night.
According to the National Weather Service, that watch includes DeKalb and LaSalle counties, as well as Boone County, and will run through 11 p.m.
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WATCH HEREThe watch had originally included just counties in western Illinois, including Winnebago County.
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for northwestern LaSalle County, along with all of Lee and Ogle counties, until 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour are possible with the storms, which are extending on a line from Fulton to Tampico, moving northeast at 55 miles per hour.
Franklin Grove, Byron Leaf, Mount Morris and Davis Junction are all in the path of the storms, which could also produce tornadoes, according to the alert.
Earlier Tuesday, severe thunderstorm warnings had popped up in McHenry and Lake counties, with wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour knocking out power for more than 4,000 residents across northern Illinois.
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Downed power lines were reported in Rockford and 65 mph wind gusts were recorded in Harvard in McHenry County.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, most of the Chicago area was under a “marginal” risk of severe storms on Tuesday, with damaging winds, a limited hail risk and a non-zero tornado threat all in play.
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SIGN UP The larger risk, however, sits just after 4 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Showers could start to develop on Tuesday evening as the front slowly churns toward the Chicago area, but the main event will likely occur late Tuesday night and even into Wednesday morning, with strong-to-severe thunderstorms possible, especially in areas to the west of the city.
According to the SPC guidance, McHenry, Lake, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, Cook, LaSalle, Kendall, Grundy and most of Will counties are all included in that risk category, though showers and storms could still impact Kankakee County and parts of northwest Indiana Wednesday.
Gusty winds of up to 60 miles per hour are possible with the strongest storms, along with a limited hail risk. A “non-zero” tornado threat also exists according to the NBC 5 Storm Team, along with a chance of localized flooding from heavy rains impacting the region.
The rain could persist well into Wednesday morning across the area, along with cooler temperatures as highs should only be in the 70s, a trend that will continue for most of the week, according to forecast models.
The storms were met with above-average, summery temperatures on Tuesday, with highs once again soaring into the upper-80s and humid conditions prevailing during the day.
Wildfire smoke, which has been impacting the area for several days, will start to be blown away by the approaching storm front, and while it could reemerge as a threat in coming days, skies will clear of the smoke at least temporarily, according to forecast models.
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