Chicago

Overnight Storms Leave Trees Down, Thousands Without Power Across Chicago Area

By Thursday morning, ComEd reported as many as 20,000 people remained without power

Storms brought damaging winds, hail and heavy rain to the Chicago area Wednesday night, downing trees and powerlines and leaving damaged homes in their wake. 

The storms moved out of the area early Thursday morning, but not before delaying flights and knocking out power to thousands of homes. 

The wild weather prompted tornado watches and warnings and numerous severe weather alerts across the metro area overnight. 

Winds of up to 70 mph and hail of up to one inch in size were reported in Cook, Kankakee and Will counties. 

By Thursday morning, ComEd reported as many as 20,000 people remained without power. The company said crews had worked to restore power for another 68,000 customers overnight. 

In Oak Lawn, a tree caused significant damage to a family's home overnight after a branch slammed into their residence in the 5200 block of West Alexander Place. 

“We heard a huge crash, bang," said homeowner Todd Summerville. "Heard glass shattering. We thought it was one of the cats getting into mischief but I mean the way that the house rocked, we knew it was something bigger than that. My wife and I got up in a hurry. We really didn’t know what happened."

Summerville's wife had just been in the living room nursing the couple's newborn baby minutes before the branch came crashing in. 

Elsewhere, debris and downed branches and trees left cars damaged as well. 

Ultimately, the stormy weather will give way to another pleasant and summer-like day Thursday, however. 

Warmer temperatures will linger into the morning and early afternoon with highs still near 80, but those temps are expected to fall quickly during the late afternoon and evening hours.

By Friday, highs will have dipped back into the low-60s and upper-50s in most areas.

The weekend will see another chance for rain as temps stay in the 60s and 70s.

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