Some parts of the Chicago area are at risk of severe weather Wednesday, with the highest threat of damaging winds, hail or even isolated tornadoes in the far south suburbs and in northwest Indiana.
“Not everyone is going to see storms,” NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Iisha Scott said Wednesday morning. “The south suburbs and northwest Indiana have the highest chance, unfortunately.”
The severe weather chances come hours after power was finally restored to Gary and Portage after an Aug. 11 derecho caused major damage to the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO’s infrastructure. The storm left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across all of northwest Indiana without power for days, with some outages lasting up to two weeks.
Wednesday morning started out dry for most areas, though Live Doppler 5 radar showed some light, scattered showers moving across northeast Illinois. A cluster of storms moving in could clip Chicago’s northern counties later Wednesday morning if they hold together, Scott said.
The window for severe weather chances was originally forecast to start about 12 p.m., but the latest updates from the Storm Prediction Center showed the threat closer to between 2 and 5 p.m. Previously the biggest threat was in the south suburbs and in northwest Indiana, but it may shift further east, the NBC 5 Storm Team said.
“We’ll still have the chance of a few showers or a low-end thunderstorm through this evening,” NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Kevin Jeanes said in an update.
Still, the SPC has placed counties to the far south including Kankakee and Will in Illinois and all of northwest Indiana under a “slight” risk of severe weather, which ranks as level two.
“While a few storms could become strong to severe with damaging winds and hail, the greatest severe threat may focus mainly east of a Paxton to Valparaiso line,” the National Weather Service said.
Other parts, including Ottawa, Joliet, Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan and all of Chicago are under a “marginal” risk, which ranks as level one.
(🧵1/2) Scattered showers and storms are expected this PM. While a few storms could become strong to severe with damaging winds and hail, the greatest severe threat may focus mainly east of a Paxton to Valparaiso line. Keep an eye on the sky today if out and about! #ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/db71FVb3sQ— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) August 26, 2026
The primary threats will be lightning, gusty winds and localized downpours, the NWS said, though the strongest storms could produce damaging hail and winds.
Later Wednesday night, everything will start to dry out. The next best chance for rain comes over the weekend Sunday into Monday.
Temperatures and humidity will also start to climb noticeably, Scott said, with highs in the low 80s Wednesday and dew points climbing into the 70s by the weekend.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, temperatures will be pushing 90 degrees, Scott said.