A tornado watch was issued for parts of northern Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, on Saturday, July 11, according to the weather service. Illinois counties included in the tornado watch include Carroll, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Mercer, Rock Island, Stephenson, Warren, and Whiteside.
Meanwhile, severe storms were expected to move through the Chicago area overnight and bring possible flooding and high winds through Sunday morning, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The National Weather Service in Chicago posted an estimated “time of arrival” map for the severe storms on its experimental Twitter feed, here.
The Tribune also posted a video of high standing water under a viaduct in south-suburban Homewood. Plus, NBC-5 showed a viewer’s video of a power line exploding in Aurora, here.
Rainfall seems to have been heaviest south of the city:
- 2.92″ in Homewood, 2.87″ in Flossmoor
- 3.19″ in Manhattan
- 3.6″ at Midway International Airport
- 4.52″ in Oak Forest
- 3.01″ in Oak Lawn
- 3.78″ in Tinley Park
The severe weather is the result of a cold front pushing southeast into the Midwest. As storms continue to develop, the Weather Channel reports, the severe thunderstorm and tornado threat associated with the system increases.
The storms may be headed toward the East Coast early next week, with the potential for severe storms now forecast for Baltimore on Tuesday, July 15.
The NWS office in Chicago originally called the system a polar vortex, since it follows from a dip in the jet stream and brings colder air. However, the national office reversed that designation, saying that it is merely a “deep upper low” because its origins are from the northeast Pacific, the Washington Post reports.
