Tornadoes Possible Amid 'Increasing Threat' Of Storms: IL Weather

CHICAGO — As the greater Chicago area prepares for another possible stretch of wet weather this week, the National Weather Service is predicting that a Wednesday warmup could produce potentially dangerous conditions, including a few tornadoes.

While rain is expected to move into the region Monday night into Tuesday, the worst weather will arrive on Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to reach near 70 degrees, forecasters said. However, along with the warmer air will come "an increasing chance" for thunderstorms and high winds.

Those winds could be damaging enough to down trees and power lines, and could produce tornadoes for some areas of Illinois, the weather service said. The biggest threat of tornadoes will be in downstate Illinois, forecasters said, but the greater Chicago area remains under a threat of severe weather, with the weather service calling for an 80 percent chance of rain.

AccuWeather forecasters said there is a significant threat of severe weather looming for much of the central United States in the upcoming days. Forecasters have predicted that 2022 could produce more tornadoes and damaging storms than in recent years, starting this spring, as unsettled weather could become the norm.

The milder air, along with the pending cold front moving in, could be a dangerous combination, the weather service said. Winds could gust up to 30 mph, and the biggest chance for storms will arrive Wednesday afternoon and into the evening before the stormy weather moves out in the overnight hours into Thursday.

Temperatures will drop into the low 50s by Thursday.