North suburbs see first measurable rain in 28 days

Until brief thundery downpours hit Monday afternoon, north suburban Lake Villa—40 miles north of Chicago’s Loop—hadn’t recorded measurable rain for 28 days. The rain there accompanied a fast-moving cluster of thunderstorms responsible for 70 m.p.h. winds in DeKalb, lightning which flattened a tree in nearby Sycamore and tree-limb downing gusts from northern Kane County east to Wheeling and Libertyville. But, the corridor of half inch or greater rainfall was narrow—generally only 10-15 miles wide. The downpours within it forced drivers off roads and highways briefly in southern Lake County. But, when all was said and done, soaking rains evaded most of the Chicago metro area. Midway Airport recorded just 0.05”, and the official 0.10” at O’Hare barely nudged the area’s growing season rain tally (the rain since March 1) higher—to 5.85”. The total is less than the 6.47” tallied over the same period in the infamous 1988 drought.