Key Highlights
- A ground stop is currently active at O’Hare due to severe thunderstorms.
- Flight delays average fourteen minutes for the Chicago area this week. Wait, that’s wrong in original text: “flight delaying averaging 144 minutes”. I must copy exactly from original text provided by user.
Key Highlights
- A ground stop is currently active at O’Hare due to severe thunderstorms affecting the area. Flight delays are averaging 144 minutes for travelers stuck on runways today.
- The Severe Thunderstorm Warning covers Lee, Ogle and La Salle counties until ten fifteen a.m., with Jasper in Indiana running until ten thirty a.m.
- A derecho is barreling due east toward the Chicago area threatening up to 80 miles per hour wind gusts by Tuesday. Heavy rainfall has already reached five inches across the city since Sunday night.
You might think this weather event marks a routine summer afternoon, but you would be wrong about that assessment given what is happening right now in O’Hare airport.
The situation here isn’t just bad; it’s actively dangerous for anyone relying on public transit or air travel during these hours. You are seeing flight delays averaging 144 minutes due to the storms which have grounded operations entirely at Chicago O’Hare International Airport right now.
A Severe Weather Warning Hits Multiple Counties
The warnings issued by CBS News and local meteorological agencies cover a wide geographic spread that includes Lee, Ogle, La Salle, De Kalb and Winnebago counties until 10:15 a.m. Jasper, Porter and Lake counties in Indiana are watching until 10:30 a.m., while Kane and McHenry counties get coverage until 10:45 a.m.
Flooding is the primary threat for Boone, DeKalb, LaSalle, Lee, Ogle and Winnebago counties which will be under an advisory from one thirty p.m. Severe weather comes mid to late morning with fast-moving thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts potentially reaching 80 miles per hour.
The Derecho Threat
A derecho is defined by the National Weather Service as a complex of thunderstorms that produces a relatively unbroken line of wind damage measuring at least 240 miles in length with wind gusts at least 58 miles per hour along its path.
In 2020, a massive derecho with winds around 100 mph cut a path of devastation across the Midwest including Chicago area and Northwest Indiana causing an estimated $11 billion in damage. In 2009 a Super Derecho was recorded as one of strongest on record traveling more than 1,000 miles in twenty four hours.
Rainfall History And Election News
The chance for a tornado or two cannot be ruled out and the main window for severe weather is expected to be about nine thirty a.m. through one thirty p.m. The greatest risks are flooding and wind damage as a derecho in Iowa barrels due east toward area.
You can’t ignore that heavy rainfall will also be concern especially across Chicago which already received up to 5 inches of rain by Sunday night when this column is being written locally.
Key Highlights
- South Carolina Republicans are choosing a successor for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s seat in their state legislature.
The storms move east-southeast through Chicago metro and Northwest Indiana with heavy rainfall continuing into weekend end of week. What is on your mind as you watch this weather pattern unfold versus what happened to Minnesota’s Senate primary between moderate and progressive Democrats?