Severe Storms Likely on Wednesday in Chicago with Flash Flood Warning issued for Cook and DuPage Counties

CHICAGO (WLS) — An AccuWeather Alert was in effect Wednesday for the chance of strong storms in the forecast.

Storms have been moving through the area throughout the afternoon.

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A Flash Flood Warning is in effect for Cook and DuPage counties until 8:45 p.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, Kendall, La Salle and Will counties until 8 p.m.

A Tornado Watch was issued for parts of the Chicago area Wednesday, especially in Northwest Indiana, but has since expired.

Showers and thunderstorms were off and on throughout the afternoon. ABC7 Chicago meteorologists said the main threats were high winds and hail.

The Storm Prediction Center indicated a Level 2 risk for severe storms across much of the area, while some regions in the northwestern part were under a Level 1 risk. Moreover, Northwest Indiana and specific far south suburban areas were at a Level 3 risk.

The storms downed power lines and trees in parts of Northwest Indiana.

Temperatures were slightly cooler than Tuesday, but humidity remained high.

Storms caused arrival delays of nearly two hours at O’Hare airport. Over 80 flights have been canceled.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, departures to Midway airport were temporarily halted due to thunderstorms. However, the ground stop has now been lifted.

At least a dozen flights have been canceled at Midway, with delays of about 20 minutes.

As a result of the severe weather conditions, the White Sox-Cardinals game scheduled for Wednesday night has been rescheduled to a double-header on Thursday. Similarly, the Cubs-Brewers game has been postponed and will now take place on August 18.

Nearly 14,500 NIPSCO customers in Indiana were without power, officials said.

The area will dry out on Thursday, and temperatures will become very hot, climbing into the mid-to-upper 90s heading into the weekend.

The heat index is expected to be above 100 degrees on Sunday and Monday.

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