Thunderstorms in McHenry County Saturday night could bring high winds and chance of hail

A hazardous weather outlook issued by the National Weather Service warns of potential Saturday night thunderstorms that could bring damaging winds, hail and limited tornado and flooding risks in McHenry County.

The biggest threats to McHenry County are damaging winds reaching up to 60 mph and possible hail up to a quarter in size, NWS meteorologist David King said. The storms are expected to start overnight around 2 a.m., according to the NWS.

“We also want to make sure people have multiple ways to receive warnings so that if something does happen it can wake you up to make sure you are in a safe place,” he said.

Multiple storms cells could bring in localized minor flooding, King said. McHenry County could see about half an inch of rain in total, but in a short time frame that results in flooding.

“It really comes down to how quickly is the rain falling and can the actual soil absorb it,” he said.

Saturday temperatures could reach 80 degrees during the day before a storm system comes in the area overnight, King said. Storms should taper off Sunday morning and then another round of storms is expected to return Sunday evening into Monday morning.

“It’s a pretty active weather period for us this weekend,” he said. “In terms of a severe threat, maybe it doesn’t look as potent as tonight, but we still want people to be prepared that thunderstorms are likely going to be happening over McHenry County on Sunday evening.”