Timeline: When Severe Weather Could Hit Chicago Area Sunday

The National Weather Service says that there is a possibility of strong-to-severe thunderstorms striking the Chicago area on Sunday, but when could the worst of the weather arrive?

Sunday has started out on the cloudy and rainy side, with most of the area currently dealing with scattered showers in the morning hours, but things are expected to intensify as the day moves along.

Here is what the latest guidance from the National Weather Service suggests.

Early Afternoon Hours

According to forecast models, two waves of showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop, with the first getting started around the noon hour and lasting through 3 p.m.

Those storms are most likely going to hit in areas along Interstate 55 in the western portion of the NBC 5 viewing area, hitting Kendall, Grundy, Livingston, DuPage, Lake and Cook counties.

This area is mostly under a “marginal” risk of severe weather, but storms could still cause damage with strong wind gusts and brief downpours, according to forecast models.

Mid-to-Late Afternoon Hours

The area more likely to be impacted by severe weather is located along and east of Interstate 57, according to the Storm Prediction Center and forecast models.

That includes the eastern half of Kankakee County, as well as all of northwest Indiana. Those areas are currently under a “slight” risk of severe weather, meaning that there is a higher likelihood of severe storms developing there than in other parts of the area.

According to current forecast models, those storms could fire between 2-to-6 p.m., and could potentially strengthen into severe thunderstorms.

The main threats are once again damaging wind gusts, potentially in excess of 60 miles per hour, brief downpours, and widely-isolated tornadoes, which could spin up within the cells as they develop.

Storms will move across the area toward the northeast at around 40 miles per hour once they arrive, according to forecast models.