Scattered thunderstorms are expected throughout northern Illinois Tuesday afternoon into evening, with a slight chance some of the storms will develop into severe weather, according to the National Weather Service.
“If storms do indeed become severe, large hail and damaging winds would be the primary threats,” meteorologists warned on the weather service website.
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That could include wind gusts as strong as 60 mph, capable of downing large tree branches. It also could mean hail as large as a half dollar, which would be able to dent cars and the siding of homes, forecasters said.
The system could arrive in the Chicago area between 3 and 10 p.m., with the greatest chance of severe weather after 5 p.m., meteorologists said. The local threat will come as severe weather shifts from the Upper Midwest and into the Southern Plains Tuesday, according to the weather service.
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The system also will leave lower temperatures in its wake.
“A threat of severe weather exists (Tuesday) from the Great Lakes down through the southern High Plains,” forecasters said. “Much cooler temperatures to arrive across the Plains and Midwest through the middle of the week.”
In Chicago, that means Tuesday’s daytime high of 90 degrees will be significantly warmer than Wednesday’s high of just 75 degrees — with even cooler temps near the lake.
By Wednesday night, as temperatures drop down to the mid-50s, the far southern suburbs could get another round of rain, meteorologists said. Some scattered showers could persist into Thursday morning.
After bottoming out Thursday, when the high is only expected to reach the low 70s, the temperature should begin to rebound Friday and Saturday, possibly reaching a high of 80 degrees by the weekend. Showers could also return Saturday night, forecasters said.
For more on the forecast, visit the Tribune’s weather page. Check back for updates.
