Friday will start out feeling warmer with some sporadic showers and storms possible in the morning.
But the threat of severe weather looms.
Modeling suggests a squall line could flare in eastern Iowa later Friday afternoon and race at highway speed (60 to 65 mph) eastward toward Chicago.
Two rounds of storms are forecasted between the hours of 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The first round set to move into the Chicago area around 4 p.m. as super cell thunderstorms. These storms pose a tornado threat and a golf-ball sized hail threat.
A cold front then moves through around 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. bring another round of very quickly moving severe weather. These storms also pose the threat of tornadoes. The storms are likely to move through at a rate of 50-60 mph so any tornado warnings will be quick and offer not much time. It’s advised that residents be prepared in advanced and stay tuned to WGNTV and the weather app for alerts and updates.
These storms are set to bring potentially dangerous and destructive winds with gusts up to and possibly exceeding 75 mph. This wind event has the potential to cause structural damage and also spin up tornadoes.
The storms are forecasted to remain in the Chicago area until after 10 p.m. then move out and towards Northwest Indiana and Lake Michigan around 10:30 p.m.
Strong wind gusts will remain.
A Wind Advisory has been issued from 3 p.m. CDT Friday to 1 p.m. CDT Saturday for Will, Grundy, Kankakee, La Salle counties in Illinois and Newton and Jasper counties in Illinois.
Full forecast details at the WGN Weather Center
Saturday will be mostly cloudy, very windy and colder. Some rain or possible mixed rain and snow showers is likely. It will be very windy. Wind gusts may 50 mph at times. High of 44 but falling into the mid to upper 30s.
Sunday things calm down and warm up some. Partly sunny, becoming windy and noticeably milder by afternoon. Wind gusts to 40 mph then. High 59.
Looking ahead to next week, the active weather pattern continues with another large, windy spring storm likely to sweep in Tuesday or Wednesday. More showers and thunderstorms and a return to 60-plus-degree warmth is likely.
