‘Strong enough to bring down trees’: Damaging winds of up to 70 mph possible with Friday storms

Powerful wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour are possible with an upcoming line of potentially severe storms making their way toward the Chicago area Friday.

The wind, which will be “strong enough to bring down trees,” is one of the biggest threats with the fast-moving system, the National Weather Service reported.

Much of the Chicago area is under an “enhanced” risk for severe weather late Friday and into Saturday morning.

“Damaging straight-line winds are the biggest concern, although severe hail and even a few tornadoes are also
possible,” NWS wrote in an alert Friday.

According to NWS, the Chicago area is at a level 4 of 5 for damaging wind risks, a level 2 of 5 for tornado risks and a level 2 of 5 for large hail risks.

The developing system is set to make its way into the Chicago area late Friday, bringing the first severe weather threat of the year to the region.

“If this line does hold together you have the threat of damaging wind gusts and weak tornadoes,” NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Kevin Jeanes said.

Wind advisories and high wind watches have been issued across the Chicago area both Friday and Saturday.

For McHenry, DeKalb, Kane, LaSalle, Kendall, and Grundy counties, a wind advisory begins at 12 p.m. Friday and continues through 1 a.m. Saturday. A high wind watch then takes effect Saturday morning and continues through the afternoon.

For Lake, DuPage, Kankakee, Cook and Will counties in Illinois, along with Lake, Newton, Jasper and Porter counties in Indiana, the advisory begins at 4 p.m. and continues through 1 a.m. Saturday. A high wind watch will also be in effect Saturday morning through the afternoon.

The alerts warn of gusts of up to 50 mph during the advisory, and possibly even as high as 60 mph during the watch.

The severe weather threat follows what will largely be a beautiful, summer-like day in Chicago, though wind gusts started to pick up in the afternoon hours Friday.

While the timing of the storms continues to develop as the system nears, latest projections put the system arriving on the western edge of the Chicago area by 10 p.m. Friday and continuing to move across the region until as late as 2 a.m. Saturday.

Once arrived, storms are expected to last one-to-two hours, though the larger threat for damaging winds sits on the front edge of the system.

While the highest threat for more severe outcomes remains just outside the Chicago area, Jeanes said the developing situation could still bring increased risks to the Chicago area.

“It’s just a question of how much [the storms] weaken going into the night,” Jeanes said, noting that it is a “line of storms we’re going to be watching very closely.”

The threat for tornadoes is highest on a line southwest of Rockford to Paxton.

“Ensure you have multiple ways to receive warnings, including ones that will wake you up,” the NWS warned.

Jeanes agreed.

“It’s a good time to make sure that you’re ready for severe storms,” he said.

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While storms will then move out of the area, the high wind watch will be in effect as thousands of people are expected to watch the Chicago River be dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day.

Though high temperatures near 70 degrees are expected, wind gusts over 50 miles per hour are possible, with the high wind watch remaining in effect until 3 p.m. Saturday.

From there, a swift and drastic cooldown is expected, with high temperatures likely to only reach the mid 40s on Sunday.