Colliding fronts creating Chicago area weather havoc

Hazardous weather warnings for the Chicago area have been issued by the National Weather Service. A warm front Saturday brought high winds and rain that are expected to escalate when a cold front from the north collides late Saturday or early Sunday morning.

“They do not play well together,” Charles Mott, an weather service meteorologist said.

Forecasters are warning of possible wind gusts of up to 60 mph with severe thunderstorms dumping heavy rains and spurring potential tornadoes in the advisory area that covers all of suburban Chicago and several counties to the south and west, as well as northwest Indiana.

Mott said the current weather models have the storms lasting through mid to late Sunday.

The advisory states that severe weather is not expected until 3 a.m. Sunday morning. Large hail is a possibility. The southern portion of the affected area is more at risk, officials said.

Mott said the instability is fueled by the cool-down the region experienced earlier in the week, followed by the warm front that moved into the area and then the expected cold front Sunday. These types of fluctuations are similar to the weather patterns seen during the spring storm season, he said.