Chicago weather: Parts of area see Severe Thunderstorm Warning; severe weather outlook includes chance of strong storms Thursday
CHICAGO (WLS) — Storms swept through the Chicago area on Tuesday, bringing high winds and hail and impacting air travel.
Southern parts of the Chicago area and northwest Indiana were at a Level 2 risk for severe weather, with areas to the west and north at a Level 1 risk.
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Tuesday’s storms contributed to travel delays. At least 294 flights have been canceled at Chicago O’Hare International Airport as of 9:06 p.m.
Earlier Tuesday, there was a ground stop for departures to O’Hare due to airspace volume, and then another ground stop due to staffing.
There is also a ground delay for departures to O’Hare due to thunderstorms, with delays averaging 206 minutes. The delay is expected to last until 3 a.m.
Flights at Chicago Midway International Airport are delayed an average of 20 minutes, with only one cancellation reported.
Some storms made their way into the area during the morning hours, prompting several alerts, ABC7 AccuWeather Meteorologist Tracy Butler said.
ABC7 AccuWeather Meteorologist Phil Schwarz said more storms started to develop west and north of the city just before 2 p.m.
Those storms were initially below severe limits, but they strengthened over the next few hours and began moving across the Chicago area.
Temperatures plummeted after about 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. along the lakefront as the front pushes south through the evening.
The main threat in the city and point north was around 2 p.m., with the threat then shifting south from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Tuesday afternoon’s storms prompted Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in several Chicago-area counties.
More hail and high winds accompanied those storms, especially in northwest Indiana, Schwarz said.
Wednesday will be a colder day with some rain south of the city mainly in the morning.
The threat of more severe weather will return by late Thursday.
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