April 26--Strong but scattered thunderstorms rolled through the northwest and north suburbs Monday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
All of northeast Illinois and parts of northwest Indiana were under a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m. Monday.
The first round of storms, which hit Elgin and points east to Evanston, dropped hail from a 1/2-inch to 1 inch fell in several northwest suburbs as the storm passed through Elgin, Arlington Heights and other northwest suburbs, according to the weather service. A second line of storms hit suburbs including Arlington Heights and points east to near Lake Bluff.
"The main hazard is, as storms develop and approach the metro area, we could see damaging winds in excess of 60 mph and even possibly some large hail of an inch or greater in diameter," National Weather Service Meteorologist David Beachler said.
The storms were expected to last about an hour or hour and a half. They will then "continue to slide southeast toward Northwest Indiana," Beachler said.
"It's not too abnormal for April to see scattered severe storms develop or the potential for severe weather," Beachler said. "Today we had temperatures back around 80 degrees for much of the area so it's not abnormal to see isolated severe storms this time of the year."
For updates, check the Tribune's weather page.
