Daytime heating ignited scattered but vigorous thunderstorm development over Chicago's northwest suburbs Wednesday afternoon. The slow moving storms unleashed localized downpours--including the 1.24 inches which drenched west suburban Huntley--at the same time triggering the funnel clouds reported at 1:50 p.m. over Woodstock in McHenry County and around 3:50 p.m. near Ogle County's Rochelle. The funnels--a product of strong thunderstorm updrafts brought on by the fast rate at which temperatures dropped with height Wednesday---also produced small hail, much of it nickel sized. Radar scans at several points during the afternoon indicated the storm's towering parent clouds reached heights of up to 42,000 ft.
In southern Wisconsin's Elkhorn, situated in Walworth County, a thunderstorm cluster stalled producing a deluge which spanned several hours---peaking between 3 and 3:45 p.m. Serious flooding was the result.
Easterly winds off Lake Michigan cooled the air just enough in lakeside counties of northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana Wednesday--that storms were unable to develop.
While haze, low clouds and areas of fog greet area residents as Thursday gets underway, clouds are predicted to break allowing some sunshine to emerge. This should re-heat the still unstable atmosphere, setting the stage for a repeat of the scattered thunderstorm development which drenched part of the area Wednesday.
In southern Wisconsin's Elkhorn, situated in Walworth County, a thunderstorm cluster stalled producing a deluge which spanned several hours---peaking between 3 and 3:45 p.m. Serious flooding was the result.
Easterly winds off Lake Michigan cooled the air just enough in lakeside counties of northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana Wednesday--that storms were unable to develop.
While haze, low clouds and areas of fog greet area residents as Thursday gets underway, clouds are predicted to break allowing some sunshine to emerge. This should re-heat the still unstable atmosphere, setting the stage for a repeat of the scattered thunderstorm development which drenched part of the area Wednesday.
