‘Whole area under threat for tornadoes’: Tornado watch issued for northern Illinois until 10 p.m.

8:12 p.m. Update: As tornado warnings across northern Illinois begin to expire, phototgrapher Scott Anderson captured these storm photos from the Illinois Valley.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 5

A rotating wall cloud appears over western Bureau County near Princeton on Friday, May 31, 2023. (Scott Anderson)

6:55 p.m. Update: Severe storms are entering the area, capable of producing tornados, hail, and destructive winds, according to the National Weather Service.

5:45 p.m. Update: Round 2 of Friday’s storms are set to arrive in northern Illinois as early as 6:30 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The storms should exit the area by 11 p.m.

Severe thunderstorms with the potential for 75 mph winds, tornadoes and hail are on the way to northern Illinois Friday early afternoon, and residents should be alert for rapidly moving storm patterns, according to the National Weather Service.

A tornado watch was issued around 11:40 a.m. until 8 p.m. Friday for parts of western and central Illinois, eastern Iowa, northwestern Missouri and southwestern Iowa, according to the NWS. That includes parts of Jo Daviess, Carroll, Putnam, Whiteside, Bureau and Rock Island counties.

At 2:35 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch until 10 p.m. for McHenry, Lake, Ogle, Lee, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, La Salle, Kendall, Grundy, Kankakee, Will, Livingston, Ford, Iriquois and Cook counties. A few tornadoes are likely in this area, along with hail and high winds.

A wind advisory also is in effect until 2 p.m. Saturday for much of northwest Illinois, including parts of La Salle, Grundy, Kankakee, Livingston, Iroquois, Ford, southern and eastern Will counties.

Most of northern Illinois is under threat from potentially significant severe storms, including Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Lake, Ogle, Lee, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, La Salle, Kendall, Grundy, Kankakee, Livingston, Ford, Iroquois, Will, and Cook counties.

In its midday update Friday, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center upgraded portions of northwest and north central Illinois to a high risk for severe storms and expanded the moderate risk area to include most of northern Illinois.

Severe alerts such as thunderstorm or tornado warnings or watches could be coming later Friday, said Zackary Yack, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Romeoville office.

“Basically the whole area is under threat to see a couple of tornadoes tonight, some could even be on the stronger side,” Yack said.

The key message Yack said area residents should be aware of: The storms will be moving fast, so people should be prepared in advance.

“The speed of these storms will probably be moving pretty quickly, at like 60 to 70 miles per hour,” Yack said. “So it’s not going to give people a lot of time for action.”

Cold weather coming south from the upper Midwest and the Plains states where temperatures Friday are in the 20s and lower 30s will clash with the near-60 degree weather that has settled into northern Illinois Friday morning.

Damaging winds and heavy rain are capable of causing downed trees and power lines, structural damage to homes and can impact motorists, Yack said.

“Often it makes it very hard to maintain control of a vehicle, especially when you’re adding the heavy rain,” Yack said. “You can try to get home or not be out and about when these storms come through, especially 6 to 11 p.m. The sooner you can get home and yourself off the roadside is probably best.”

For motorists who have to be out Friday evening, it’s best to slow down and maintain distance between vehicles, or find a safe spot to pull off the road, Yack said.

The first wave is expected to start around 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, Yack said, and the second around 6 to 11 p.m.

“With the initial wave we’re basically looking at damaging wind gusts upwards of 75 miles per hour or higher, definitely some tornadoes possible and even a damaging hail threat,” Yack said. “The tricky part with this though is the northwest extension is uncertain at this time. There’s a chance the worst might be confined to I-80 and southward, but we’re definitely looking at those potential storms getting into the north part of the region, so those areas are not out of the clear yet.”

The second set of thunderstorms is coming from a line pushing across eastern Iowa, which is tracking across the Missouri River, said NWS meteorologist Mike McClure out of the Quad Cities office.

“As that moves through here tonight, we’re going to switch winds around to the northwest and that’s going to bring in some of that colder air,” McClure said.

Quad Cities residents should expect winds about 60 mph and large hail.

“We anticipate super cell storms to develop from central and eastern Iowa here,” McClure said. “It’s possible as time goes on these super cells could form into a line that could move eastward across Illinois and be predominantly a damaging wind threat.”

The National Weather Service recommends Illinoisans have an emergency preparedness plan ready to go in the event of severe weather threats Friday. If a tornado or high wind alert is issued, residents should head to the lowest floor of their home or a sturdy building and away from windows. Those in a vehicle should pull off the road and get into a sturdy building.

Severe weather alerts can be followed on smart phones, in area media outlets, and on the National Weather Services’ social media pages, including live updates on Twitter.