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After a day of near record-high temperatures and sunny skies, the Chicago area saw a very active evening as severe storms sparked tornado and thunderstorm warnings across the area.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued in LaPorte County until 3 a.m. Saturday, with wind gusts of 60 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
The storms could damage roofs, sidings and trees, with storms on a line from Wanatah to North Judson, moving northeast at 60 miles per hour.
Tornado warnings were issued in Chicago's western suburbs late Friday night, and then in northwest Indiana Saturday as radar indicated several areas of potential rotation within storm clouds in the region.
There were no immediate reports of touchdowns with the storms, though there were some reports of potential funnel clouds in DeKalb County in Illinois.
Storms showed sudden strengthening over Lake County in Indiana early Saturday morning before pushing out over Lake Michigan, though no touchdowns were immediately reported, according to the National Weather Service.
Even in areas where there were no tornado warnings, strong wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour were reported in numerous counties as straight-line winds posed significant threats to residents throughout the upper Midwest.
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Those winds helped fuel power outages for tens of thousands of area residents, with Winnebago and Kane counties especially hard-hit by those outages, according to officials from ComEd.
Even after the storms move out of the area, the region is not out of the woods in terms of nasty weather. A high wind warning will be in effect for the entire area Saturday morning until noon, wind sustained winds of 25-to-35 miles per hour and isolated gusts up to 55 miles per hour possible.
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A wind advisory will also remain in effect for the Chicago area until 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour possible.
Those winds could cause downed tree limbs and power lines, with more outages possible throughout the region.
