CHICAGO (WLS) — A tornado watch is in effect as several rounds of storms that could become severe make their way through the Chicago area Tuesday afternoon.
A Tornado Warning is in effect for McHenry County until 2:30 p.m.
A Tornado Watch has been issued for Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, La Salle, Lake, Kendall, McHenry, and Will counties in Illinois and Benton, Lake, Jasper, Newton and Porter counties in Indiana until 8 p.m.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect Cook County until 2:45 p.m.
ABC7 meteorologist Larry Mowry said storms had already begun flaring to the west and the south of the Chicago area by 12:30 p.m., and are moving northeast at 50 miles per hour.
The main threats in the thunderstorms are large hail, downpours and strong winds said ABC7 Meteorologist Cheryl Scott. As another wave of storms raced through just before 2:30 p.m., there were of inch to inch-and-a-half sized hail in the south suburbs, which is roughly the size of a ping pong ball.
Between 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. strong storms bring with them a threat of tornadoes. The highest tornado threat is to the southeast of the city, especially in Northwest Indiana.
See the latest AccuWeather report
A first round of storms began moving in to the western part of the area by 6:30 a.m., and then moved into the city later in the morning, bringing rain and winds.
Around 8 a.m. ground stops were issued at both O’Hare and Midway airports due to the weather. The ground stops were lifted by around 9:30 a.m.
The Storm Prediction Center upgraded the risk for much of the area late Tuesday morning. Much of the Chicago area is at a Level 2 risk and a five percent tornado risk, with northwest Indiana at a Level 3 risk and a 10 percent tornado risk.
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