Thunderstorms developed late Wednesday across northern Illinois bringing parts of the area its first measurable rain in 17 days. The storms—far from drought-busters—dropped 0.24” in northwest suburban Arlington Heights and 0.22” at Mt. Prospect and Lake Villa. O’Hare recorded a paltry 0.07” through 9 p.m. Wednesday.
It was quite a different story to the north in Wisconsin. A two hour deluge at Plover in Portage County, 220 miles northwest of Chicago, swamped the community with 4.42” causing flooding. And, high winds accompanying other Wisconsin storms downed trees and power lines in sections of Janesville and Fond du Lac.
Farther west, on the high plains of Colorado, hail 2.75” in diameter smashed car windshields at Akron. High winds produced by the storm generated extensive damage according to trained spotters in the area, downing a number of tree branches.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
