Severe Thunderstorm Watch: Timeline of Wednesday threat to Chicagoland

CHICAGO — The National Weather service around midday issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for the area ahead of a round of potentially severe weather on Wednesday night.

🔴 Jump to Latest Updates

The watch in effect until 8 p.m. impacts Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana, including Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake counties.

---

---

Tuesday’s hot and humid weather will stick around throughout the day on Wednesday, but the threat of severe weather ramp up heading into the afternoon hours. Clouds were building around midday as the system approached from the west.

Timeline:

The WGN weather experts say the threat of severe weather ramps up in the western suburbs around 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. The system is expected to impact the city around 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. before reaching Northwest Indiana in the late evening hours.

The fairly quick-moving storm system will be out of the metro area overnight.

The Storm Threat

Much of the metro area is under a level 2 of 5, or slight risk, of seeing a strong or severe thunderstorm. While the risk is on the lower end, the storms still have the potential to produce damaging winds, lightning and locally drenching downpours.

Current Interactive Radar:

Stay with WGN News throughout the day for the latest real-time weather updates, or take the coverage with you on your Android and Apple devices with the WGN Weather app.

Climate and Environment news: WGN Weather Center blog

Wednesday’s Latest Updates: