The Chicago area is going to see very unsettled weather through Friday evening, with several rounds of showers and thunderstorms possible across the area.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, several counties in the NBC 5 viewing area, including McHenry, DeKalb and Kane counties, are under a “enhanced risk” of seeing severe weather as the system moves through the area.
Most other counties in northeastern Illinois, including DuPage, Cook, LaSalle, Kendall, Grundy, Will and Kankakee counties, are a notch below the aforementioned areas, with a “slight” risk of severe weather.
While there is a limited threat of tornadoes in the impacted area, the main threats will likely come in the form of damaging wind gusts in excess of 65 miles per hour, along with ping-pong ball sized hail, according to forecast models.
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The National Weather Service says the first round of storms are expected to move into the area during the overnight hours. It's unclear whether the storms will intensify into severe storms, but there will be at least two more possible bursts of storms, starting late Friday afternoon.
With elevated humidity and high temperatures, the instability in the atmosphere could also cause severe weather in a third round of storms, which could hit the area overnight Friday and into Saturday.
Those storms will likely hit areas further south, concentrating to the south of Interstate 80, according to forecast models.
Local
As of 10 p.m. Thursday, no watches have been issued for the Chicago area.
