More than 230 flights have been canceled at O'Hare and Midway international airports as severe weather threatens the Chicago area.
A bulk of the cancelations – 232 – were at O'Hare, which was reporting an average delay of 51 minutes. Midway reported one cancellation and an average delay of 44 minutes.
Periods of scattered showers and thunderstorms, some possibly becoming strong to severe, developed in Chicago's far west suburbs early Wednesday afternoon.
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued across the area, from west central McHenry County to Cook County and Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. The National Weather Service warned of quarter-size hail, high wind gusts and wind damage to roofs, siding and trees in those areas.
The warning also was issued in Lake, Grundy, Kankakee and Livingston counties and extended in McHenry County.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued across the Chicago area into northwest Indiana until 8 p.m.
Developing storms could move east toward Chicago later in the afternoon and into northwest Indiana by about 8 or 9 p.m.
If the atmosphere destabilizes a second time Wednesday evening, another round of storms could also move into the area.
The entire Chicago area is under a "slight" risk for severe weather, according to the National Weather Service.
Local
Temperatures are forecast to reach into the upper-80s and low-90s with heat index readings of up to 100 degrees.
The warm weather was already met with some storms Tuesday afternoon, prompting warnings in some parts of northern Illinois.
More rain is expected Thursday morning before a dry stretch in the afternoon, while showers and storms could then return late Thursday night through the day on Friday and into the weekend.
Even with storms possible, high temperatures are forecasted to stay in the upper 80s through the weekend before cooling to around 78 degrees on Sunday.
