Severe weather barrels through Chicago area, Tornado Warnings issued

CHICAGO - A Tornado Warning was issued late Friday night for Will and Kankakee counties, as severe thunderstorms plodded through the Chicago area, bringing heavy rain, powerful wind gusts, lightning and reports of hail.

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Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued for Cook – including Chicago – DuPage, Lake, McHenry, DeKalb, Kane, Will, Kendall, Grundy, and parts of northwest Indiana.

Additionally, the storms caused power outages for thousands across Chicagoland.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was in effect for nearly the entire Chicago area until 2 a.m. on Saturday. A Flash Flood Warning was also issued for Cook County until 3 a.m., and DuPage and Kane counties until 2:15 a.m.

On two separate occasions in the 11 o'clock hour, a "destructive" severe thunderstorm was barreling through southern Cook County. Wind gusts up to 80 mph were possible, FOX 32 meteorologist Emily Wahls said.

Before the storms, however, came the heat.

Heat advisories and Excessive Heat Warnings were in place Friday with temperatures in the 90s and heat index values in the triple digits – all the way to the lake. Additionally, there was an Air Quality Alert in effect through Friday.

The heat was the fuel for the fire Friday night, when the potential damaging storms moved in from the west.

Weather hazards included damaging winds, half-dollar size hail, flash flooding, and tornadoes.

A much more comfortable air-mass arrives this weekend with highs in the low to mid 80s. We could have a lingering shower early Saturday, but after that we spend the weekend under dry skies.

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Temperatures stay in the low to mid 80s early next week, but the heat is back by mid to late week as temperatures once again climb to near 90.