National Weather Service: Expect flash flooding and severe storms this week

DIXON — The National Weather Service in Chicago is expecting inclement weather throughout the week and has issued a hazardous weather advisory for portions of north central Illinois, northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Counties under advisory include Benton, Boone, Central Cook, Northern Cook, Southern Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Jasper, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, McHenry, Newton, Eastern Will, Northern Will, Southern Will, Porter and Winnebago.

Forecasters were saying to expect a line of thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds up to 70 miles per hour and heavy rainfall late Monday night, with the greatest potential for damaging winds occurring near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

Tuesday brings a significant risk of flash flooding with gusty winds capable of producing strong to severe storms throughout the day and into the night.

Wednesday brings a bit of relief with only a limited risk of thunderstorms and no hazardous conditions on Thursday. However, rocky weather rolls back in for the weekend with an elevated risk of flooding on Friday and limited risk of thunderstorms for both Friday and Saturday.

The Rock River’s flood stage at Dixon is 16 feet, when minor flooding occurs, according to the National Water Prediction Service. As of Monday, data from the United States Geological Survey measured the Rock River at Dixon at 12.88 feet – a near 2-foot increase over the last week. However, the river level was expected to begin falling Monday night, with forecasters predicting it to be at 12 feet by 7 a.m. Sunday.