Sections of two southwest suburbs -- Burr Ridge and Homer Glen -- were damaged by powerful microbursts spawned in predawn thunderstorms Thursday. The storms, accompanied by dramatic lightning and loud thunder claps, hit around 5 a.m. Microbursts occur when comparatively dense, rain-cooled air plunges to earth then fans out in all directions, generating strong straight-line winds. National Weather Service survey teams estimated that winds in Homer Glen, which ripped part of a roof off a building, may have reached 100 m.p.h.
Blinding rains with the heaviest storms produced eye-catching totals. New Buffalo, Mich., which was hit by the first in a series of downpour-generating thunderstorms Wednesday night, reported 5.50” of rain, while sections of Knox in Indiana’s Starke County were flooded by 4.76”. Chicago’s southeast side was hit with 4.10”, and Chesterton and Hammond, Ind., tallied 3.46” and 3.39” respectively.
The Fox Valley and areas west of Chicago didn't escape the big rains. Kane County's Elburn reported a whopping 4.22" between 7 a.m. and noon Thursday.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
