Damaging storms swept through the Midwest, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers and causing more than a thousand flight delays or cancellations at Chicago airports, with more potentially severe weather expected Thursday.
The National Weather Service reported more than a dozen tornado sightings Wednesday across northern Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Illinois. No immediate injuries or deaths were reported.
Meteorologist Frank Pereira from the National Weather Service stated that the frontal system responsible for the storms, including high winds and hail, was moving eastward Thursday. A slight risk of severe thunderstorms also exists in parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The storms are fueled by cool air from Canada clashing with warm, humid air from the South.
"Going forward, another area of severe weather is expected to develop across the central Plains and Midwest, particularly from Iowa and northern Missouri northeastward through the Great Lakes," Pereira said. "This is all tied into a well-defined frontal system."
Storms moved into the Chicago area Wednesday afternoon, toppling trees and damaging buildings. The two major Chicago airports, O'Hare International and Midway International, temporarily halted all flights due to thunderstorms. A similar ground stop was issued at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
By Wednesday evening, over 1,000 flights to and from Chicago had been delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware. Air traffic appeared normal Thursday morning, with only 24 cancellations and 34 delays nationwide.
Strong winds tore part of a roof off an apartment building in the Chicago area, forcing residents to evacuate, NBC 5 Chicago reported. Elsewhere, barns collapsed in Wisconsin, buildings were crushed in rural northern Missouri, and large trees and power lines were downed across the Midwest, as shown in photos and videos online.
Approximately 390,000 customers were without power in the Midwest on Thursday. Illinois had nearly 226,000 outages, including about 150,000 in Cook County, while Michigan had 85,000 homes and businesses without power, according to poweroutage.us.
Commonwealth Edison Company, providing electric service across northern Illinois, stated that the storms downed poles and wires. "We know this is challenging and will restore service as safely and quickly as conditions allow," the company posted on X.
The storms soaked Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago before Wednesday night's game between the White Sox and the Atlanta Braves.
