Showers and thunderstorms are expected in the Chicago area Thursday, NBC 5’s Storm Team said, with parts of the morning commute affected, followed by a risk of severe weather with heavy rain, hail and strong winds in the afternoon.
On Thursday morning, NBC 5 meteorologist Alicia Roman said temperatures are expected to remain high throughout the day. While a high of 89 degrees is expected, the day will be even warmer due to dew points in the low 70s.
Some areas also saw precipitation Thursday morning, with a risk of heavy downpours during the morning commute, Roman said.
As of 5 a.m., showers were mainly to the west and south with rain in DeKalb County and thunderstorms in southern LaSalle, Livingston, Ford, Grundy and Iroquois counties, Roman said.
By 6 a.m., the rain had moved into parts of Cook and Kankakee counties, Roman said, with scattered showers and thunderstorms likely to persist until 11 a.m.
Elsewhere, mostly cloudy skies are expected in the morning, Roman said. By Thursday afternoon, another round of scattered thunderstorms is expected to develop, some with the potential to become strong or severe.
“The best chance for thunderstorms today, some maybe severe, will be after 4 p.m.,” Roman said. “But they’ll be scattered, so not everyone will see them.”
The risk of thunderstorms persists through Thursday night, Roman said, with widespread rain between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. At that time, the entire Chicago area will be under a “slight” risk of severe weather, rated a level two out of five on the Storm Prediction Center’s severe weather scale.
The threat of severe weather comes as Lollapalooza, Chicago’s iconic summer music festival, kicks off its first day of four in Grant Park.
According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, the biggest threats associated with Thursday night’s thunderstorms are heavy rain, high winds of up to 65 miles per hour, lightning and quarter-sized hail.
Some thunderstorms could continue overnight, Roman said. There will also be a chance of rain Friday morning, he added, and drier conditions are expected in the second half of the day.
Temperatures are expected to drop slightly on Friday, with highs between 70 and 80 degrees.
