Suburban rivers, streams rising, but few near flood stage

Several Chicago-area streams and rivers were approaching flood stage Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

"We're seeing a few upticks," said Brian Leatherwood, a meteorologist in the weather service's Romeoville office.

While the Des Plaines and DuPage rivers were close to flood stage, Leatherwood said rivers south of Interstate 80 were more affected by recent rains as more rain fell south of that tollway.

More storms are expected Saturday afternoon and evening, but again, the heavier rainfall likely will be in the south, Leatherwood said.

From midnight to 3:30 p.m., 1.25 inches of rain had fallen at the DuPage Airport in West Chicago. Gages at the Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove and O'Hare International Airport in Chicago measured about two-thirds of an inch of rain during that period.

McDonald Creek near Mount Prospect, Buffalo Creek near Wheeling, the Des Plaines River, both branches of the DuPage River and Kress Creek near West Chicago were listed as being near flood stage. Salt Creek near Oak Brook was having minor flooding, according to the weather service's river observations at water.weather.gov.