Blog Article

Chicago Severe Weather: 75 MPH Winds Threaten Outdoor Events

A Level 3 Enhanced Risk brings 75 mph winds and tornado threats to Chicago tonight, disrupting the Grant Park Music Festival and White Sox game.

When a 75 MPH Wall of Wind Crashes the Grant Park Music Festival

Get this, y'all. If you are in Chicago tonight, your evening plans are about to get very loud. The Grant Park Music Festival is kicking off. The Braves are in town to play the White Sox on the South Side. Thousands of people are out and about trying to enjoy a summer evening.

But there is a massive line of storms moving into the Upper Mississippi Valley right now. Oh, and Spotify is down for a bunch of folks today. So you cannot even stream your favorite playlist while you wait out the rain in your car.

We are looking at an Enhanced Risk for severe weather tonight. That is a Level 3 out of 5. The Storm Prediction Center is highlighting a huge chunk of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, right over the Chicago and Milwaukee metros.

The main character tonight is something meteorologists call a QLCS. That stands for Quasi-Linear Convective System. In plain English, it is a fast-moving wall of wind and water.

Hurricane-Force Gusts in the Midwest

The data shows a 30 percent probability for damaging winds across the region. Inside that area, there is a hatched region where gusts could exceed 75 mph. That is hurricane-force wind pushing through the city.

If you are sitting on a lawn chair at Grant Park, a 75 mph gust will send that chair rolling toward Lake Michigan. It will snap tree branches. It will knock out power.

We also have a 10 percent hatched risk for tornadoes. The hatched part is important. It means any tornadoes that do form could reach EF2 strength or higher. These types of tornadoes happen fast in a squall line. They spin up right on the leading edge of the wind, often wrapped in heavy rain where you cannot see them coming.

The Ground is Already Full

On top of the wind, the Weather Prediction Center has a Slight Risk for excessive rainfall. The ground in northern Illinois is already soaked from yesterday's storms. When the soil is saturated, the water has nowhere to go but into the streets. More heavy rain tonight means flash flooding is a real problem, especially in urban areas where concrete blocks the drainage.

Normal high temperatures in Chicago this time of year sit right around 80 degrees. We have plenty of heat and muggy moisture feeding these storms. The atmosphere is primed to keep this line organized as it pushes east.

Tomorrow Brings Round Two

This system does not clock out at midnight. Tomorrow, the threat shifts east. The Storm Prediction Center has already issued another Level 3 Enhanced Risk for Thursday. That covers parts of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. Grand Rapids and Detroit are right in the path for another round of 75 mph winds and potential tornadoes.

If you have tickets to an outdoor event tonight in the Midwest, know exactly where your shelter is. A festival tent is not shelter. A baseball dugout concourse is. Keep your phones charged and make sure your weather alerts are turned on and loud.

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