Severe Weather: Chicagoland under Tornado Watch until 10 p.m.

CHICAGO (WGN) — After a warm start to the week, storms are impacting Chicagoland.

The National Weather Service has put the entire metro under under a Tornado Warning until 10 p.m., and the threat of severe weather has prompted a delay of tonight’s Beyoncé concert at Soldier Field.

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The day started out with some warm temperatures that reached into the low 90s in some areas, but that warm air is fueling the potential for storms.

The storms are not expected to arrive in Chicagoland until the afternoon hours and the WGN weather experts warn that they have the potential to produce 75 mph wind gusts, golf ball-sized hail and even tornadoes, though the primary concern is hail and wind.

There is a chance that the storms do not develop, but if they do, they could quickly become severe.

The one element that might retard storm development is an atmospheric “cap” that’s likely to be in place for a time. A “cap” is a layer of warm air aloft, usually between 10,000 and 20,000 feet in the atmosphere.

Temperatures briefly turn warmer and prevent the updrafts from punching upwards and generating storm development.

Thursday Storm Timeline:

Things begin to ramp up around Chicagoland between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday when forecast models show storms moving west to east in clusters.

Starting around 4 p.m., storms are expected to arrive in the I-39 corridor in LaSalle and DeKalb counties.

Severe weather threats ramp up significantly between 6 and 9 p.m. for Lake, DuPage, Will, Cook and Kankakee counties in Illinois, as well as parts of Northwest Indiana.

Severe weather threats continue between 8 and 10 p.m. when forecast models show storms becoming more linear as they leave the area, moving out of northwest Indiana by about 9:30 or 10 p.m.

By this point, storms will still hold a tornado threat, but the linear structure generally means weaker tornadoes, if any form.

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