More than 43,000 people in Illinois and more than 84,000 in Northwest Indiana were without power Friday morning after severe thunderstorms swept through the Chicago area, leaving behind major storm damage including downed power lines and snapped trees that fell on houses and cars.
As of 5:20 a.m. 43,674 Illinois customers were facing power outages, ComEd’s outage map showed. The majority of those outages were in Cook County, where more than 30,000 people were without power.
Thousands of power outages were also recorded in Will County, the map showed, along with hundreds more in McHenry, Lake and DuPage Counties.
In an alert on ComEd’s website, the utility company said crews were actively working to restore outages.
“Based on the history of similar storms of this size, across the ComEd service area, we expect 80% of outages to be restored by 11 p.m. on Friday, 5/16 with remaining outages restored by 3 p.m. on Saturday, 5/17,” the alert said.
In Northern Indiana, NIPSCO said approximately 84,600 customers were without power due to heavy rainfall and 60 mile-per-hour winds.
“Due to the extent of the damage and the ongoing inclement weather conditions, an estimate of when power will be restored is not able to be determined at this time,” the utility said.
In Chicago, the storm delayed Beyoncé’s show at Soldier Field for several hours, with photos and video posted to social media showing rain pouring down on the venue.
The storms also led to area-wide tornado watches, and briefly caused a ground stop at O’Hare International Airport.
In the suburbs, multiple wind gusts of nearly 70 miles per hour were reported in DeKalb County, with powerful winds knocking down traffic lights in suburban Lombard.
Branches were broken, trees snapped in half and roof damage was reported in an area of Manhattan near Sweedler Road and Gougar Road after the storms tore through Will County, officials said.
Large hail was also present all around the area, especially in Lake County in Illinois, where golf ball-size hail was reported in Winthrop Harbor and Gurnee, according to trained weather spotters.
Lake County also saw plenty of wind damage, with a tree smashing into a house in Antioch.
In Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood early Friday morning, photos showed a massive downed tree on parked cars and blocking the entire road.
More severe storms possible
Friday’s forecast calls for a warm and mostly sunny day with highs in the mid 80s. And while most of the area is expected to stay dry, there is a chance for an isolated strong to severe storm in the afternoon, the NBC 5 Storm Team said, especially to the southeast and in northwest Indiana.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, Northwest Indiana and some of Chicago’s southeastern suburbs were at a “slight” risk of severe weather, which ranks as level two of five. The rest of Northeastern Illinois was at a “marginal” risk, which ranks as level one.
“Scattered severe thunderstorms are possible late this afternoon into early this evening,” the National Weather Service said, “mainly for areas along and east of Interstate 55.”
According to the NWS, the main severe weather threats are large hail and damaging winds, with gusts outside storms as high as 45 mph.
Fire weather watch
All of northeastern Illinois will go under a fire weather watch beginning at 10 a.m. due to the strong, southerly winds and low humidity.
“Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly,” the NWS said. “Outdoor burning is not recommended.”
Into the weekend, temperatures are expected to dip, the NBC 5 Storm Team said, with more spring-like weather in the 60s.
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