Severe Thunderstorms Roll Through Northern Illinois

Severe thunderstorms have rolled through northern Illinois on Friday night, and the weather has spawned numerous watches and warnings.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has also been issued for 18 counties across the Chicago area and northwest Indiana until midnight. That watch will remain in effect until midnight, according to the National Weather Service.

Warnings were issued throughout the viewing area, including in Kankakee, Grundy, Kendall, Will, and La Salle counties. A brief Tornado Warning was also issued in Iroquois County, but it quickly was cancelled.

Earlier in the afternoon, Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued for DeKalb and McHenry counties followed by storm warnings for Kane, DuPage and Cook counties.

The storms could produce hail, heavy rain and considerable tree damage as well as damage to mobile homes, roofs and outbuildings, according to the National Weather Service.

Multiple roads in Rockford were impassible around 3:30 p.m. because of heavy rainfall, according to reports. Hail was spotted in Sleepy Hollow around 4:18 p.m., and hail as large as 1.25 inches was spotted in Schaumburg just before 5 p.m.

This is the first round of potentially severe weather this weekend, as waves of rain and excessive heat and humidity will roll into the area.

According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, temperatures will rise to the upper-80s all weekend long, with a chance of thunderstorms throughout the weekend. High humidity will push heat indicies even higher than that, meaning that Chicago-area residents are in for a hot summer weekend.

Scattered thunderstorms are possible during the afternoon and evening hours Friday, continuing into Saturday morning. The storms, some of which could become strong to severe, have the potential to produce torrential rainfall, damaging winds and potential flooding.

With the threat of rain looming, flash flood watches have been issued for large chunks of the area, including in Cook, Lake, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, and LaSalle Counties. Those watches will take effect at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon and will continue through Saturday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Many of these areas have already been impacted by heavy rains in recent days, with Lake County being especially hard hit.

Flash Flood warnings along the Des Plaines and Fox rivers also remain in place with more rain threatening the already flooded communities.