Severe thunderstorms are expected again Wednesday evening in Lake and McHenry counties for the third night in a row as thousands of residents remain without power.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said a line of storms developed over Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon.
The storms will likely track into northern Illinois early Wednesday evening. Damaging winds that could become “potentially significant” are the primary risk, the NWS said.
The storms are expected to take place in Lake and McHenry counties somewhere between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect.
Areas impacted by the storms could see winds strong enough to uproot trees, torrential downpours, large hail and a brief embedded tornado, the NWS said.
Almost 70,000 customers in Lake and McHenry counties experienced power outages after Tuesday evening’s severe storms that brought power lines and trees down.
ComEd reported 39,702 customers in Lake County and 30,082 customers in McHenry County were affected by power outages Tuesday evening after storms passed through the area.
As of Wednesday afternoon, ComEd reported 15,458 customers in Lake County and 14,059 customers in McHenry County were still affected by power outages.
ComEd said they expected 80% of the outages to be restored by 11 p.m. Wednesday and the remaining to be restored by 3 p.m. Friday.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported that their headquarters in Waukegan was closed Wednesday due to it being without power, but patrol operations were running normally. The Lake County Jail is running on a backup generator.
The Lake County Courthouse and most other county facilities have power.
Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Lt. Christopher Covelli said the sheriff’s office responded to approximately 100 calls for service in Lake County related to weather.
“Unlike many storms, these storm-related calls were countywide and not confined to specific areas,” Covelli said.
The majority of the calls were live power wires that had fallen or were arching and trees that had fallen across roadways.
“Our Auxiliary Deputy Unit did a tremendous job activating and deploying across the county to block impassable roadways, keep people away from dangerous power lines down, and more. This allowed our sheriff’s deputies the ability to respond to emergency calls, versus being tied-up blocking roadways,” Covelli said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office did not see any reports of injuries from the storm but homes were damaged from live wires, trees that had fallen and lightning strikes.
Storm damage was also widespread in McHenry County, with residents in Algonquin, McHenry, Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, and many other towns reporting power lines and trees down.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to just under 60 calls for service in McHenry County related to weather.
Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Deputy Fire Chief John Knebl said his department responded to at least 30 storm-related calls for service Tuesday evening.
“Fire crews were met with multiple responses for wires down, lighting strikes, trees on and in homes/vehicles, medical emergencies due to power disruption, as well as unpassable roadways,” Knebl said.
Lake in the Hills police reported multiple street closures, traffic lights out and trees down throughout the village.
A heat advisory is also in effect for the northern Illinois area from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday as the National Weather Service reports heat index values could reach 105.