Chicago tornado warnings were issued Tuesday for Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, Kendall County and Will County as severe storms moved through the region. Around 10:45 a.m., Chicago office workers were urged to take shelter, and the alert cycle overlapped with airport disruptions and flood notices.
There was a Tornado Warning for Cook and DuPage until 11:15 a.m., while a separate warning for Kane, Kendall and Will was set to expire at 11 a.m. Another Tornado Warning covered Grundy, Kankakee, Kendall and Will counties until 11:30 a.m., and Lake County and Porter County in Indiana were under a warning until 11:45 a.m.
AccuWeather Alert over Chicago
The Chicago area was under an AccuWeather Alert as more storms with powerful winds were in the forecast Tuesday. Scott Baker issues Chicago Tornado warning for three counties tracked the same storm pattern as the warnings spread across the region.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch stayed in effect for the Chicago area until 2 p.m., and a separate watch covered LaPorte County until 5 p.m. The warning list also included Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Cook, DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties in Illinois and for LaPorte County in Indiana until 11:15 a.m., plus Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Grundy, Kendall and LaSalle counties until 11 a.m.
Midway and O'Hare ground stop
The weather alerts reached aviation operations too. A Ground Stop at Midway and O'Hare lasted until about 11:30 a.m., and about 200 flights were canceled at O'Hare around 11 a.m. For passengers, that meant the storm threat was not just a radar problem; it was already changing departures and arrivals while the warnings were still active.
Flood alerts were layered on top of the tornado and thunderstorm notices. A Flash Flood Warning for LaPorte County ran until 2 p.m., Flood Advisory for Cook, DuPage, Kankakee and Will counties lasted until 1:30 p.m., and Flood Advisory for DeKalb and LaSalle counties also ran until 1:30 p.m. A separate advisory for Grundy, Kane and Kendall counties continued until 2 p.m., with Flood Watch for LaPorte County in place until 8 p.m.
The warning windows gave the clearest timeline for what people in the Chicago area needed to watch first: shelter through late morning, then flight and travel delays as the severe weather band moved through. The open question after 11:45 a.m. was how long the storm line would keep producing new warnings and airport interruptions across the area.
