Chicago’s south suburbs were hit with a tornado warning Wednesday evening after National Weather Service officials warned that a wave of showers and thunderstorms were expected to move through the area Wednesday afternoon with a tornado watch and a possibility of snow into the night.
Officials issued the tornado warning through 6 p.m. for Calumet City, Chicago Heights and some of Northwest Indiana Wednesday, with hail spotted in parts of the area and on Chicago’s southwest side. Earlier Wednesday, they had forecast a 60% chance of showers and a thunderstorm possible by 2 p.m. in portions of north central and northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.
Waves of showers and thunderstorms will move across the area today, but the main threat with the morning storms would be strong to near severe hail up to quarter size. A few storms this afternoon and early evening may also be strong to severe and feature damaging winds and hail. A few tornadoes may occur, especially along and south of I-80, possibly as far north as I-88.
Later Wednesday, conditions are expected to shift to breezy with wind gusts up to 35 mph. Temperatures are expected to drop to the low 30s when a small amount of snow is possible, officials said.
Current conditions at O’Hare International Airport are light rain and mist at 43 degrees. Farther south at Midway Airport, conditions are the same.
A wind advisory is in effect from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday when gusty winds threaten to blow around unsecured objects and power outages may occur in the area. The possibility of snow during this time accompanied by snow may affect visibility for travelers, officials warned.
