CHICAGO — The Chicago area has been placed under a conditional threat for severe weather into Tuesday morning.
ABC7 Chicago meteorologist Larry Mowry said most of the area is under a Level 1 threat. Some northwest suburbs are under a Level 2.
As for timing, Mowry said if any thunderstorms make it to the Chicago area, it would be between midnight and 4 a.m. Tuesday.
The upper Midwest braced Monday for severe thunderstorms with the potential for strong tornadoes.
Concerns about severe weather were raised by the National Weather Service for parts of southern Minnesota, including Minneapolis, as well as northern Iowa and western Wisconsin, with a significant risk level of 4 out of 5. Meteorologists anticipated two rounds of severe weather, with the later afternoon and evening round posing the highest impact potential.
The most critical period for severe weather was forecasted to be late in the day, with a heightened risk of strong tornadoes. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, warned of the likelihood of large to very large hail and damaging winds during this time frame.
Depending on how the storms form, tornadoes in the EF-2 range or greater are possible, the weather service office for the Minneapolis area said.
The Storm Prediction Center said a lesser potential for severe weather extended as far south as parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
In response to these warnings, the city of Minneapolis urged its residents to be prepared by staying informed with weather alerts, securing their surroundings, and making arrangements for potential power outages by charging electronic devices and having essential supplies like flashlights at hand.
Monday’s first round of storms darkened skies over downtown Minneapolis around 9 a.m. and brought brief heavy rains, but it triggered no weather warnings as it passed through. The weather service said the situation for the afternoon’s main event remained volatile and could still spin up strong tornadoes.
The city of Minneapolis closed its public-facing non-emergency city facilities, including its main service center, as of 2 p.m. and activated its emergency operations center.
Some Minnesota schools canceled evening activities ahead of the storms, including the St. Paul and Bloomington School districts. Some Iowa schools also closed early for the day or canceled evening activities.
On Sunday evening, a tornado derailed an empty BNSF coal train west of Ashby in northwestern Nebraska. Initial reports were that a tornado measuring more than 1 mile wide derailed many of the approximately 130 cars on the train, toppling several onto their sides. There were no immediate reports of injuries and the locomotive remained upright, the News Channel Nebraska radio group reported. It was one of several tornadoes reported in that part of Nebraska on Sunday evening.
ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.
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