Chicago weather: Severe storms cause power outages, flight cancelations, damages
CHICAGO - Severe storms rolled through the Chicago area overnight Friday leaving many without power into Saturday morning.
Strong winds, hail and torrential rain knocked down trees, caused damage to homes and businesses and even canceling flights.
As of 11:20 a.m., over 17,000 customers were still without power, according to a ComEd outage map.
Outages in NW Indiana left 20,400 customers without power as of 11:30 a.m., according to NIPSCO.
Wind gusts topped 50 mph and more than an inch of rain was recorded at O’Hare International Airport, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Zachary Yack.
Gusts of 70 to 80 mph were reported in areas of Grundy County, in the far southwest suburbs.
A fire station in Frankfort and a church in Minooka had parts of their roofs blown off, Yack said.
The rain followed a stretch of oppressive heat and humidity that saw heat indexes approach 110 degrees in parts of Chicago.
One family in Morton Grove came home to a tree on top of their house. Luckily, no one was injured.
Most of the area dealt with severe thunderstorm warnings through the overnight hours. A tornado warning was even issued for Kankakee and Will counties.
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Chicagoans will see a break from severe weather this weekend. Today will be mostly sunny with highs in the low 80s.
High waves and rip currents are possible in NW Indiana beaches. Tomorrow will be around 80 with sunshine.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.