The heaviest thunderstorms have bypassed Chicago in recent days -- a trend which is
to end Friday. Cumulonimbus clouds -- the tall, cottony clouds from which
thunderstorms emanate -- towered over the city's skyline late Thursday. Radar scans
indicated several reached 42,000 feet in height and produced isolated downpours
responsible for 0.60 of an inch in Wilmette, 0.25 of an inch in Northfield and 0.21 of an
inch in Northbrook. But those storms paled in comparison to powerful clusters that
drenched sections of Iowa with as much as 5 inches of rain and produced deadly wind
gusts clocked at 68 m.p.h. in Indianapolis. Early reports indicated the winds may have
collapsed a building under construction resulting in three deaths.
Blistering heat in the Plains -- including a 103-degree high at Dodge City, Kansas --
spawned the storms that led to more than 300 reports of severe weather Thursday. A jet
stream settling south toward Chicago threatens to strengthen t-storms here later on
Friday and Friday night.
LAKEFRONT FLIRTED WITH 90 DEGREES THURSDAY
An 89-degree high was recorded at Northerly Island on Chicago's lakefront, where
nearby water temperatures reached a season high of 68 degrees.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
