Hundreds of thousands of homes and business in Illinois and Wisconsin lost power on Wednesday and air travelers were facing significant delays as intense storms swept across the Midwest.
Forecasters had expected strong storms — bringing hail, heavy rain, destructive winds or tornadoes — to develop anywhere from Texas to Southern Canada, but they had warned that the greatest potential risk was centered near the Great Lakes.
By early afternoon, brief tornado warnings had begun dotting the landscape, especially in Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. Several included a “particularly dangerous situation” designation, a rare type of warning that the Weather Service uses to highlight tornado conditions that could be especially destructive. There were no immediate reports of widespread damage.
Hundreds of flights into and out of Chicago’s airports were canceled or delayed, according to FlightAware, which tracks air travel.
As of 5 p.m. Eastern, more than 300,000 utility customers in Illinois and 90,000 more in Wisconsin had lost power, according to poweroutage.com, which tracks outages.
This is the time of year for severe storms
Forecasters often know up to a week in advance if conditions are likely to be favorable for thunderstorms, but their ability to pinpoint exactly where and when those thunderstorms kick off is much more limited. Read more about why forecasting thunderstorms is still so hard.
Scientists have been able to draw links between a warming planet and many types of extreme weather, including hurricanes, heat waves and droughts. But they are not yet able to determine whether there is a link between climate change and the frequency or strength of tornadoes. Read more about tornadoes and climate change here.
How to prepare
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