CHICAGO — No, the world's not ending — it's just really, really crappy out there.
Heavy rains and a lot of lightning pummeled the city Tuesday afternoon as the National Weather Service issued a special weather alert for four counties including Cook. The alert warned that the storms would bring with them "torrential rainfall" and "localized flooding."
Almost looked like a giant tornado in downtown Chicago earlier - but "just" a storm moving through. #weatherchi pic.twitter.com/PEbJN50M3X
— Craig Newman (@craignewman) September 8, 2015Winds were up to 50 mph by 1:30 p.m., and drivers were warned to avoid roads with standing water.
Fox Chicago's Chief Meteorologist Bill Bellis said nearly 750 lightning strikes were observed in a single hour in the greater Chicago area:
Plenty of electricity in the air. 740 lightning strikes over the last hour. @fox32news pic.twitter.com/YO1x5Ncjgw
— Bill Bellis FOX 32 (@BillBellis) September 8, 2015DNAinfo Chicago reporters embedded around the city shared snapshots of the storm and its impact on the neighborhoods:
The weather at Garfield Park. pic.twitter.com/vrVVDagtL1
— Kelly Bauer (@BauerJournalism) September 8, 2015
I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day because the apocalypse is coming. pic.twitter.com/ahni7f7WFx
— David Lee Matthews (@DavidLMatthews) September 8, 2015
Some subterranean businesses were forced to close late Tuesday due to flooding, or threats of flooding, including River North's Lost Lake, a tiki bar that was feeling a little too realistically tropical, according to Instagram:
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