The Chicago area is once again looking at a stormy evening with the potential for some severe weather Friday night, and a rare dust storm warning was issued for much of the Chicago area as blowing dust is causing reduced visibility on several Interstate highways.
Unlike Thursday, however, the threat and expected severity of any potential thunderstorms are lower and mainly concentrated southeast of the city.
Warm, windy conditions with low humidity are prompting a Wind Advisory and Red Flag Warning for high fire danger. High temperatures are pushing well into the 80s.
A dust storm warning has been issued for Grundy, Kankakee, Kendall, LaSalle, and Will counties in Illinois and Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter counties in Indiana until 7:30 p.m. A dust storm warning also has been issued until 8:30 p.m. in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, and Kane counties. The National Weather Service said a dust storm has caused significantly reduced visibility on Interstate 55 near Shorewood, Interstate 57, and Interstate 80 near Joliet, along with Interstate 65 near Crown Point, Indiana.
According to the National Weather Service, wind gusts could reach over 70 miles per hour during the storms.
The most significant storm threat remains east of I-55.
Thursday evening, mainly between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., a few severe storms race into southeastern portions of the Chicago area, packing wind gusts to 70 mph and golfball size hail. Areas northwest of Chicago will likely remain dry.
Cooler, dry weather settles in this weekend but a rainy pattern returns next week. Early projections show that we may total 1" to 1.5" of rain Monday night through Wednesday morning.
Cooler and dry weather will then settle in for the weekend.
A few schools closed due to power outagesA small number of schools announced closures Friday due to power outages in the wake of Thursday's severe weather events.
As of 7:30 a.m. Friday, Crown Point Community School, Lake Station Community Schools and Manhattan District #114 had all reported closures.
There will be no on-site and e-learning at Arbor Park School Distirct #145 due to power and internet outages.
Next week's temperatures back off significantly in ChicagoSummer-like conditions continue as highs reach near 90 degrees.
Winds remain strong into the night and Saturday. Click here to see our full seven day forecast.
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Laura Bannon