7 a.m. UPDATE: O'Hare and Midway International Airports are both currently under ground stops "due to thunderstorms." According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the ground stop at O'Hare is expected to lift at 8 a.m. At Midway, the ground stop is expected to lift at 8:15 a.m. Our original story continues below.
Muggy conditions, 90-degree temperatures and the risk of severe weather all loom in Chicago's Thursday forecast, the NBC 5 Storm Team said.
"Another 90-degree day," NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman said, of Thursday's temperatures. According to Roman, all areas are expected to hit either the upper 80s or low 90s, including the lakefront.
Early Thursday morning, conditions were already beginning to feel hot and humid, Roman continued.
"Feeling a little sticky out there," Roman said in the 5 a.m. hour. By afternoon, dew points in the 60s and 70s could make things feel more like the mid-90s, Roman added.
But hot and muggy air isn't the only part of Thursday's forecast.
Clouds are expected to increase in the afternoon, Roman said, with showers and storms developing around 1 p.m. However, a line of showers and storms in Boone and McHenry Counties Thursday morning was already bringing heavy rain, rumbles of thunder and lightning to the region.
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By 7 a.m., rain had already begun to move into Lake County, Roman said, with non-severe showers and storms expected to last through 9 a.m.
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At O'Hare and Midway International Airports, a ground stop had been issued "due to thunderstorms" through at least 8:15 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.
According to the National Weather Service, the line of morning storms was also impacting parts of Kane, DuPage and Northern Cook Counties, with heavy downpours. Heavy lightning, wind gusts of 40 miles per hour and penny-sized hail were all possible, the NWS added.
Some dry time was expected in the late morning, Roman said, but chances of storms and showers increase after lunch time, where storms were expected to start in the northern counties. Later in the day, those showers and storms were expected to move to the south and west.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, the entire Chicago area Thursday afternoon will be under a "slight" risk of severe weather, which ranks as level two of five. The storms carry the potential for several weather threats, Roman said, including damaging winds of up to 75 miles-per-hour, large hail up of to two inches in diameter, and heavy rain with localized flooding possible.
Additionally, while the threat of a tornado remains low, it cannot be ruled out, Roman said.
Counties further west, including LaSalle County, will be at an even higher risk of severe weather, Roman said, with the Storm Prediction Center ranking those parts at an "enhanced" risk of severe storms, which ranks as level three of five.
Later Thursday evening and overnight, storms were expected to move out, and cooler conditions were expected to move in, Roman said.
Temperatures Friday and Saturday will drop down into the low 80s, Roman said, with potentially cooler temperatures along the late. By Sunday, temperatures are expected to rise back into the 90s, Roman said.
