After two days of record high temperatures, Chicagoland will see scattered storms that will bring rain and strong winds to the area Wednesday night.
Brian Leatherwood, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chicago, said winds of up to 60 mph are expected with the incoming storms.
“When you hear 60 mph, 70 mph winds, that’s approaching hurricane force,” Leatherwood said. “So trees can be knocked down and obviously loose stuff can be blown around very easily.”
Damaging hail is also expected with the storms and while the likelihood of a tornado is low in the Chicago area, meteorologists are not ruling it out, Leatherwood said.
“For tonight there is a threat for severe weather,” Leatherwood said. “We’re trying to assess that right now. It’s not a clear-cut scenario.”
The storms were expected to hit northwestern Illinois between 7 p.m. and midnight, the weather service said.
Wisconsin meteorologists issued severe storm warnings and some tornado warnings for Wednesday night, Leatherwood said, adding that some conditions closer to Chicago may reduce the severity of the storms.
The storm and cold front are expected to cool down the area over the weekend, Leatherwood said.
Temperatures will still be in the 80s and 90s on Thursday and Friday but will go into the lower 80s over the weekend.
“We’re going to continue to cool off a little bit over the weekend getting more into the lower 80s which is our seasonal norm,” Leatherwood said.
