First storms in 5 days hit with hail, downpours

Towering thunderstorms swept roughly half of the metro area in two waves Friday --
the first delaying the opening game of the Crosstown Classic at Wrigley Field with
downpours and peppering some northwest suburbs with hail as large as quarters.
The second wave of storms erupted mid-afternoon in 80-degree warmth and drenched
north sections of Geneva in the Fox Valley with an inch of rain in just 35 minutes. The
storms also toppled a tree across a house just southeast of Warrenville in DuPage
County.
The storms were the first to sweep the area since last Sunday. While hail and lightning
were the biggest threat posed by most storms, several generated wind gusts clocked at
45 m.p.h. in Kane County's Burlington. The largely storm-free south suburban area
hosted upper 80-degree temperatures -- including 88 degrees at Plainfield, Kankakee
and Orland Park.
SOUTHWEST WILTING IN 7TH DAY OF TRIPLE-DIGIT HEAT
Temperatures surged past 110 degrees for a seventh day Friday in parts of the
Southwest. Highs reached 117 degrees at Palm Springs and 110 degrees at Santa Maria,
both in California -- readings up to 38 degrees above normal.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune