New round of storms could hit the suburbs this evening

Widespread severe weather is possible this evening throughout the suburbs, the National Weather service says - including a tornado watch for Kane and Kendall counties until 11 p.m.

"It's Fox Valley westward and southward that's in effect until 11," said Casey Sullivan, meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

The tornado watch includes nearly 40 additional counties that cover most of north central Illinois. Storms could produce damaging winds, hail, tornadoes and flash flooding, according to the weather service.

Storm watchers are keeping an eye on a line of currently tame storms near the Quad Cities that could develop into something stronger and more serious in the early evening.

"Most of the area will likely not see anything significant for another hour or two," Sullivan said. "It's possible that something could develop overhead, but we're currently focusing on those storms (near the quad cities)."

More than 150 flights have been canceled at O'Hare airport today.

ComEd announced that it was increasing staffing and opening its Emergency Operations Center to deal with any power problems storms might cause.

ComEd urges customers to contact them immediately if they lose power. Customers can text OUT to 26633 to report an outage. Customers can also report outages at ComEd.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ComEd or by calling (800) 334-7661.

The current tornado watch expires at 11 p.m., but Sullivan said an additional watch may be put into effect beyond that for areas to the east and southeast.

"We'll have to see how the thunderstorms evolve over the next few hours," he said.