Chicago Weather Alert: Dangerous heat, severe storm threat Friday
CHICAGO (CBS)-- Dangerous heat and severe storm threats are coming, and the danger of strong weather has expanded.
As of 12:30 p.m., the Storm Prediction Center expanded the area under a level 3 (out of 5) risk of severe weather. A cold front will help trigger storms into the evening hours,
A lake breeze could act as a trigger and fire storms by late afternoon. The main threat is damaging winds.
Temperatures will be in the low 90s Friday. Heat warnings and advisories are in effect for most of the area, with heat index values reaching over 100 degrees.
An Air Quality Alert is also in effect for the Chicago area until midnight.
Storms moved in Friday morning and ended around 8 a.m. The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Newton, Lake, and Porter counties in Indiana until 7:15 a.m. The same warning was issued for Jasper County, Indiana, until 7:45 a.m.
The next round of storms will develop closer to 5 p.m., with damaging wind, hail, and flooding threats.
There is a low chance of a few tornadoes, and CBS 2 meteorologists will continue to monitor conditions as storms develop.
O'Hare and Midway airports briefly issued ground stops Friday morning due to weather conditions. Both airports report that delays are improving as of 8:30 a.m.
The chance for storms linger into the night before wrapping up early Saturday. It will be cooler and less humid for the weekend. Gradually, temperatures will be warming up again next week.
