CHICAGO — High winds, rain and hail battered the Chicago area and left thousands without power Monday night, and weather experts said another thunderstorm could be on the way.
Monday night's storm brought 50 to 66 mph winds with it along with torrents of rain. By the end of it all, about 1.19 inches of precipitation was measured at O'Hare Airport, according to the National Weather Service.
Power was knocked out in about 9,227 homes in Chicago and Maywood, ComEd spokesman John Schoen said. Crews worked through the night to restore power, and the number was slashed to 326 residences without electricity as of Tuesday morning, Schoen said.
The storms were part of a larger weather system across the Midwest that brought devastating tornadoes to Oklahoma.
Storms made their way into Missouri and "helped trigger some storm development" in Illinois, National Weather Service meteorologist Jamie Enderlen said.
In Illinois counties such as LaSalle, Grange, DuPage and Grundy, there were reports of golf ball-sized hail, Enderlen said.
Potentially severe storms could be on the way again Tuesday afternoon and evening, Enderlen said. Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana can expect more rain, strong winds and possibly hail, she said. Those storms could continue through the evening and lead to localized flooding, the weather service warned.
