Suburbs cleaning up after storms roll through area
The heavy storms have moved on and now people are able to see the damage caused by powerful storms Tuesday night.
Hail the size of golf balls were recorded in Aurora and Naperville, where 2-inches of rain was recorded by a trained weather spotter, officials at the National Weather Service said.
The forecast for today is much better with highs in the low 80s and decreasing clouds throughout the day, according to Accuweather.com.
The severe weather prompted officials to cancel more than 115 flights at O'Hare International Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. All flights at Midway Airport were halted for a short time at 8:30 p.m., authorities said.
The National Weather Service has also issued a flood advisory for DuPage and southern Cook counties after the storms dumped buckets of rain through the area. The hardest hit areas seem to be in DuPage and southern Kane counties.
Runoff was expected in Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Lisle, Naperville, Oak Brook, Westchester and Westmont, among other suburbs, the weather service said.
Baseball-sized hail up to 2.75 inches in diameter was reported in Homewood in southern Cook County Tuesday night, and reports of 1- to 2-inch hail were common elsewhere, said Mike Bardou, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Heavy rain totaling 2 to 3 inches pelted Naperville and Woodridge in DuPage County.
Earlier Tuesday evening, Facebook was popping with reports of significant wind and hail damage in the Sugar Grove and Aurora area. North Aurora Trustee Mark Gaffino posted that hail dented all three of his cars, and the hail and wind damaged his siding.
Kuipers Family Farm in Maple Park posted photos of uprooted trees and said quarter-size hail and high winds could be bad news for the apple crop.
Two homes in Naperville were struck by lightning, officials said. The first, on Willow Road, received $50,000 in damages due to the lightning strike, while the second - on Elm Court - picked up $65,000 in damages, Naperville fire officials said.
Northwest Cook County suburbs were never listed in the weather service warnings, but storm with hail did blow through them. A flood advisory was issued for the Des Plaines River near Gurnee.
Some DuPage and Kane suburbs like Warrenville and Sugar Grove were listed in separate warnings over the course of the night.
A warning had been issued for Lake and McHenry counties - particularly north, such as in Woodstock and Bull Valley - until 8:15 p.m., but then the weather service canceled the warning after the storm prompting it fell below "severe" levels, it said.