Overview
- The Storm Prediction Center placed most of the Chicago metropolitan area at a Level 2 or “slight” risk for severe weather for Friday, alerting officials and residents to an organized but not widespread threat.
- Meteorologists say storms are likely to form around midday near the Wisconsin border, move south into the Chicago area, and could redevelop in the afternoon before tapering off late Friday evening.
- Forecasters identified damaging straight-line winds as the main hazard with gusts around 60–65 miles per hour and the potential for large hail and isolated tornadoes in the strongest cells.
- Local agencies issued severe thunderstorm watches and county warnings for parts of the region as radar showed storms building across suburbs and moving southeast during the afternoon.
- Northwest Indiana remains especially vulnerable because roughly 44,000 NIPSCO customers still lack power after prior storms and counties have emergency declarations plus state relief funds and community sites serving as lifelines.