CHICAGO (WLS) - Severe thunderstorms moving through the Chicago area left downed trees and power outages in their wake, prompting a series of severe thunderstorm warnings for several counties as well as an extended severe thunderstorm.
Strong winds and heavy rain were prominent features of the midday storms, which left damage.
Cracked light poles and snarling power lines littered the sidewalk on Chicago's north and northwest sides.
This part of the city, stretching into Skokie, saw some of the strongest winds, throwing trees into streets and bending others that didn't break.
"Still, there was a storm, really strong winds, a lot of trees here were bending with the winds. I turned around for a second and this one fell. It's just blocking the street here. Luckily no one was hit." said Paul Serilla of Skokie.
The wind forced people to ditch their Monday afternoon plans and grab a chainsaw instead. Neighbors near Devon and Cicero made quick work of the cleanup, cutting up freshly fallen tree trunks to clear as much of the road for traffic as possible.
In the northern suburbs, the storm started rolling in around 1 p.m., taking some trees down with it. Crews are working to clear downed branches and other debris in Wilmette and Winnetka. Residents there said they lost power for a while, but it was quickly restored.
More downed tree limbs were being cleaned up in Evanston, and photos in Des Plaines showed a tree snapped to its trunk near a power line.
There were also reports of power outages. As of 9 p.m., ComEd said 3,200 customers were still without power and power had been restored to 63,000 customers.
No injuries were reported.
After a warm and mostly calm morning, ABC7 Chicago meteorologist Larry Mowry said an intense line of thunderstorms moved through the area during the midday hours. It had moved out of the area by 3:15 p.m., but a cold front will still move through the area in the evening.
There is still a risk of storms in the south and southwest in the evening.
The National Weather Service has most of the Chicago area under an increased risk of severe storms, meaning numerous severe storms are possible.
Monday will be a warm day, with a high near 89. Tuesday will be sunny, windy, and cooler, with a high in the low 80s.
