A tornado watch remains in effect across the Chicago area until 9 p.m. Thursday, as forecasters expect a rare “moderate risk” of severe weather.
There will be strong tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail.
Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin are also included in the tornado watch, as outlined by the National Weather Service.
EF-2 tornadoes are expected to carry wind speeds ranging from 64 to 140 mph and can move entire homes off their foundations, forecasters have described.
The greatest tornado threat comes from a second batch of storms that will develop after 4 p.m. and continue until 10 p.m. Thursday. Another inch of rain could fall during this time.
This severe weather event comes after cleanup efforts following Tuesday’s storm, which left more than 130,000 ComEd customers without power. At the height of Tuesday’s storm, more than 400,000 ComEd customers experienced outages.
Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports are scheduled to cease ground operations around noon, with more than 500 flights canceled at O’Hare alone.
Authorities are asking residents to make sure alerts on their cell phones are turned on and to “heed warnings from authorities.”
