Chicago Weather: Kaitlin Cody Details Dust Advisory, Storm Risks

Chicago weather turned unsettled Monday as strong to possibly severe storms moved through the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana, while a Blowing Dust Advisory covered nine counties until 6 p.m. Kaitlin Cody, a Fox Chicago meteorologist, said visibility could drop this afternoon as winds reached 30-35 mph.

The advisory included LaSalle, Kendall, Grundy, Will, Kankakee, Lake, Porter, Jasper and Newton counties. For people traveling through those areas, the main concern was the combination of dust and wind before storms arrived later in the day.

Kaitlin Cody on Monday evening

Cody said strong to severe storms were possible Monday evening into Monday night, with gusty wind and hail in the forecast. The risk was not uniform across the region: areas from Chicago west and north had a marginal Level 1 out of 5 risk, while southeast of I-80 carried a slight Level 2 out of 5 risk.

That southeast corridor also had a small tornado risk, which put the sharpest weather threat in a narrower part of the region. The dust advisory and the storm outlook created two different problems on the same day: reduced visibility first, then stronger storms later.

Chicago Weather Through Thursday

Cody's outlook shifted to a cooler, quieter stretch after Monday night's storms. Tuesday was expected to stay mostly cloudy with a lingering chance for rain and highs in the upper 50s, before Wednesday turned dry and partly sunny with highs near 60.

Thursday was expected to bring sunshine and highs around 60, followed by a mostly sunny end to the week with highs in the low 60s. The weekend forecast called for sunny and mild weather, with highs in the upper 60s on Saturday and Sunday, above Monday's normal high of 66.