More Showers, Storms May Come Thursday
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago area was slammed with violent storms Wednesday evening, and more rough weather may come later Thursday.
You might have been woken up by a rumble of thunder around 4 a.m. CBS 2 Meteorologist Megan Glaros says the culprit is a cluster of strong, but not severe, thunderstorms that passed over several north suburban areas, but were over Lake Michigan by 5:30 a.m.
After those storms pass, the skies should calm down for the morning rush hour. Cloud cover is expected for most of Thursday morning, and showers will likely resume Thursday afternoon.
Storms made for a miserable experience Wednesday evening. If you walked out your door under dry skies around 7:30 p.m., you might have found yourself caught in sheets of pouring rain and blasting winds just half an hour later, leaving pedestrians looking like been standing under a high-pressure showerhead with all their clothes on.
Just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, quarter-size hail was reported in Evergreen Park, with wind gusts up to 60 mph reported in Hometown.
A lightning strike from the Wednesday evening storms was blamed for a house fire in Lake Barrington. Fire crews said it was one of many.
"We had our weather guys down here so we were keeping abreast of it," said Paul Groszkiewicz of the Wauconda Fire Protection District. "They said it was coming through and there was a lot of lightning hits. And they were right. It followed right through."
A flash flood warning was also issued for northwestern Cook and Lake counties, as well as southeastern McHenry and Kane counties. The warning has since expired.
While the weather Thursday won't be as severe as Wednesday, Thursday will also be the last day for a while in which the temperature tops out at more than 80 degrees. Over the weekend, the highs will only top out in the 50s.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
