The threat of severe weather is rising in the Chicago area in coming days, with the first round of storms potentially arriving in the overnight hours.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, the entire Chicago area, including northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, is currently at a “marginal” risk of severe weather Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.
National Weather Service officials say that the main threats for those storms could begin on Wednesday night, but that activity could ratchet up between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. Thursday.
The main threats with the storms will come in the form of gusty winds and hail, officials said.
While scattered storms could pose an issue Thursday morning, the main event for storms could occur on Thursday night and even into Friday morning.
The entire Chicago area is at a “slight risk” of severe weather during that time, according to the SPC, and more damaging winds and hail are possible with those storms.
Some uncertainty does remain in terms of the storms’ track, as a wide area of the country could potentially see severe weather.
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In fact, the threat of thunderstorms could persist into the weekend, though the primary chances for severe weather will occur Wednesday and Thursday, according to officials.
Stay tuned to the NBC 5 Storm Team for all the latest weather information.
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