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THURSDAY 24 JUNE, 2010
Tornado watch for Chicago
SOURCE: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/severe-
A tornado watch has been issued for the Chicago metropolitan area until 9 p.m. as a cold front moves in and collides with hot, muggy air.
The unstable system is expected to generate heavy rain, hail and high winds late this afternoon and into the evening, according to the National Weather Service.
This morning, a wave of storms dumped up to an inch and a half of rain on the area.
More than 200 flights at O'Hare International Airport were canceled because of the storms, which have prompted a flash flood warning that remains in effect until evening. Temperatures are expected to reach into the lower 90s this afternoon when a new band of storms may hit.
A severe thunderstorm warning for southeastern Cook and eastern Will counties, as well as portions of Lake and Porter counties in northwest Indiana, expired at 9:30 a.m. The National Weather Service had forecast damaging winds and hail, and possibly tornadoes, but no significant damage was reported as the worst of the storms that have passed.
The Chicago Weather Center said wind gusts of 53 mph were reported in far south suburban Frankfort, near Lincoln-Way North High School, shortly before 9 a.m.
In Olympia Fields, the weather damaged a transformer, causing a power outage in the south suburb, according to police from there. The suburb has also experienced high winds. Although a few trees have been damaged, no serious property damage was reported.
To the north, 1.09 inches of rain were reported in the Gurnee area in just 30 minutes, it said.
Other rainfall totals as of 9 a.m. included 1.42 in Wonder Lake, 1.12 in Flossmoor, 1.08 in Lake Villa, 1.08 in Wadsworth and 1.01 in Waukegan. Nearly an inch of rain fell in the south suburb of Homewood in less than half an hour, causing some flooding and closing the viaduct on 183rd Street.
Due to thunderstorms that passed through the Chicago area earlier today, airlines at O'Hare International and Midway Airports are reporting delays and cancellations.
Flight at O'Hare are experiencing delays of one hour or more for flights in and out of the airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. More than 375 flights have been canceled there.
At Midway, flights from in and out of that airport were averaging delays of 45 minutes, the department said.
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