Severe weather storms through Chicago, suburbs

AP - Storms ripped through Chicago and the suburbs this afternoon, sparking tornado warning sirens, downed trees and electrical strikes.

Storms with winds in excess of 50 mph, driving rain and lightning swept through the area, as weather officials urged people to take cover either in a basement or in the interior portion of a building away from windows.

Some suburban schools were delaying the release of students for the day, until the weather calmed down.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for central Cook County and DuPage County, and meteorologist Nathan Marceli said a front was headed into Chicago that would bring high winds on the heels of Wednesday night's storms.

In Arlington Heights, winds knocked downs trees, partially blocking some streets, while rain slowed traffic to a crawl on some major roads, such as Arlington Heights Road.

Thursday's storms came on the heels of storms overnight Wednesday, leaving many areas of the state with even more water on top of already worrisome levels by rivers and streams.

Heavy rain also fell across far-northern Illinois, where rivers have been high since a round of weekend storms.

A foot of water stood over roads in the Rochelle area, about 20 miles west of DeKalb, and the Des Plaines River was more than 3 feet above flood stage north of Waukegan, according to the weather service.

Minor to serious flooding also was reported along the northern stretches of the Fox and Rock rivers.

More rain was expected through tonight before a cold front started to push wet weather out of the area over the weekend, according to the weather service.

The last of the rain is expected to clear the area by Saturday afternoon, though much of the rivers are expected to remain at high levels for much of next week.