The risk level for severe weather in the Chicago area was upgraded Thursday morning, just hours before two waves of storms are expected to hit the region, threatening to bring strong tornadoes and other weather hazards.
The relatively rare upgrade now has much of the area under a “moderate” risk category, a level four of five. The increased risk coverage nearly the entire region, with the exception of some southern locations and northwest Indiana, which still remain under the “enhanced” category.
“Timing still looks good but the intensity of the severe weather could be increasing,” NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Alicia Roman said. “This includes, again, destructive damaging winds, up to 80 mph, much like what we saw [Wednesday]. And intense tornadoes – EF-2 or greater. On the EF scale, EF-2 tornadoes have wind gusts of 103-142 mph and are capable of shifting entire houses off the foundation, or removing large sections of roofs.”
The biggest threat for tornadoes sits in the second round of storms Thursday.
“The second one is the one I’m most concerned about,” Roman said earlier.
That wave is expected to begin around 4 p.m.
The window for the peak tornado threat is expected to continue until 8 p.m.
The National Weather Service reports the areas at a greatest risk for tornadoes will be suburbs north, northwest and west of Chicago.
“The threat for tornadoes will be the highest if storms can stay discrete or by themselves,” the NWS wrote on X. “The main source of uncertainty is where the warm front will stall this evening. It may be in northern Illinois or southern Wisconsin.”
The agency urged residents to “take tornado warnings seriously” and have multiple ways of getting alerts. (Download the NBC Chicago app for live updates throughout the evening)
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