High winds will be subsiding to about 35 mph Saturday evening after causing power outages and some damages in the Chicago area and suburbs.
A high wind warning for “much of the area” remains in effect until 7 p.m. though, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Leatherwood.
But winds will be ramping down a bit as the evening wears on. “Slowly, it’s just going to decrease,” Leatherwood said.
As of about 5 p.m., O’Hare International Airport was experiencing wind gusts up to around 40 mph after earlier, gusts reached 60 miles per hour.
Winds will be around 35 miles an hour overnight after this “really robust” system which affected “almost the entire area” of northern and northwestern Illinois dies down.
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Temperatures will only reach the upper 40s to low 50s overnight and into Sunday, cooler than what we’ve had recently, though the normal temperature for this time of year is around 38 degrees,” Leatherwood said.
But during the day Sunday, calmer weather should return, according to NWS meteorologist Zach Yack.
Chicagoland should then see “really pleasant conditions,” with dry weather and temperatures warming into the mid-60s, Yack said.
“It’ll be a little breezy out there at times, but nothing like we’re going to see today,” he said.
Earlier, officials cautioned the winds may blow down trees and power lines, causing outages as well as making travel difficult for some vehicles.
High winds blew off some sheet metal from a billboard earlier at 1801 W. Jackson Blvd., according to Chicago Fire Dept. spokesman Larry Langford. No injuries were reported and “nothing major” happened otherwise that was weather-related, Langford added.
The wind also knocked out power, according to ComEd spokesman John Schoen. “Currently we have about 32,000 customers without power,” Shoen said about 5:30 p.m., adding the bulk of those were in the city of Chicago and Maywood area.
Power has already been restored to 124,000 customers, Schoen said. “The wind is always tricky, what it does to our lines and poles,” Shoen said. “It keeps blowing up and down all day.” ComEd crews will be working throughout the night to restore electricity.
The weather also caused some delays and cancellations at city airports. As of 6 p.m. delays at O’Hare averaged about an hour and more than 600 flights were canceled, according to FlyChicago.com. At Midway, delays averaged about 15 minutes as of the same time and about 20 cancellations happened.
Around 10:30 a.m., the membrane for an apartment building’s roof at 1037 Charlela Lane in Elk Grove Village was lifted due to the wind, Elk Grove Battalion Chief Todd Rishling said. There were no injuries.
The five-story building with 60 units was evacuated because rain began to go through the roof’s insulation, Rishling said.
The fire department turned the incident over to the building’s owner, who called a roofing company out to building, Rishling said.
Elk Grove has also had some power lines and trees downed due to the wind, Rishling said.
Earlier, weather officials gusts of up to 65 mph were expected from daybreak to noon, Nation Weather officials warned.
“Take it easy on the roads, because the winds will be pushing vehicles around,” said Yack earlier, adding that people should also secure outdoor furniture.
The Chicagoland-wide storms were expected to produce little to no lightning, but were expected to include showers and squalls throughout the day, the National Weather Service wrote earlier in a weather advisory.
People should avoid being outside in forested area with trees and branches, and if possible to remain on the lower levels of homes and to avoid windows during the windstorm, officials said.