Showers and storms are in the Chicago-area forecast Thursday, the NBC 5 Storm Team said, with some parts of the morning commute impacted, followed by the chance for severe weather with heavy downpours, hail and damaging winds in the afternoon.
Thursday morning started out muggy, NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman, with humidity expected to continue throughout the day. While a high temperature of 89 degrees is expected, the day will feel even hotter thanks to dew points in the 70s.
Some parts Thursday morning were also seeing rain, with the potential for heavy downpours during the morning commute, Roman said.
As of 5 a.m., showers were mostly to the west and south with rain in DeKalb County and storms through Southern LaSalle, Livingston, Ford, Grundy and Iroquois Counties, Roman said.
By around 6 a.m., rain had moved into parts of Cook and Kankakee Counties, Roman said, with spotty showers and storms likely to remain through 11 a.m.
Local
Elsewhere, mostly cloudy skies were expected through the morning, Roman said. Thursday afternoon, another round of scattered storms was expected to develop, some with the potential to turn strong or severe.
"Today's best chance for storms, some perhaps severe, comes after 4 p.m.," Roman said. "But scattered, so not everyone will see it."
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
Storm chances continue through Thursday night, Roman said, with widespread rain between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. At that time, the entire Chicago area will be under a "slight" risk of severe weather, which ranks as level two of five on the Storm Prediction Center's severe weather scale.
The severe weather threat comes as Lollapalooza, Chicago's iconic summer music festival, kicks off day one of four in Grant Park.
According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, the greatest threats associated with Thursday evening storms are heavy downpours, damaging winds of up to 65-miles-per-hour, lightning, and quarter-sized hail.
Some storms could continue into the overnight hours, Roman said. Friday morning would also see rain chances, Roman said, with drier conditions set to move in for the second half of the day.
Temperatures Friday were expected to dip slightly, with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s.
