Chicago woke up to a wet and rainy morning Thursday, with heavy downpours for some and slick and slippery conditions leading to crashes on roads.
As of 5:20 a.m., live radar showed rain across the Chicago area, spanning parts of eastern Lake County, southern DeKalb and Kane Counties, Will and Central Cook Counties and across northwest Indiana.
NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Alicia Roman said the rain was expected to continue through the morning commute.
“The rain will be with us for at least the next several hours,” Roman said, with some parts seeing heavy downpours.
Multiple crashes and accidents were reported across the area, “likely due to the rain,” NBC 5 traffic reporter Kye Martin said, with traffic cameras showing slick roads. Early Thursday morning, there were already accidents on the inbound Kennedy Expressway at Keeler Ave., and on westbound I-80 in the southwest suburbs.
In northwest Indiana, the I-80/94 eastbound off-ramp to Indiana Toll Road in Lake Station was closed due to a semi rollover, Martin said. Traffic was expected and detours were in place.
By the mid-morning hours, rain was expected to move out of northwest Indiana, Roman said, with dry conditions and mostly-to-partly sunny skies around 1 p.m., though an isolated storm could pop up in counties to the south and southwest.
Temperatures Thursday were in the mid-70s, Roman said, with a cold front moving in later in the day. By Friday morning, temperatures will be cool and crisp in the 40s and 50s. Highs on Friday would be below average, Roman said, only reaching into the 60s and low 70s.
NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Kevin Jeanes explains average temperatures for September, and what to expect in the Chicago area this year.
“Feeling like fall again,” Roman said. “71 is pretty typical for the end of September, when fall is in full swing.”
Labor Day weekend weather through Monday in the Chicago area looked “fantastic,” Roman said, with mostly sunny days, and comfortable, pleasant conditions, with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s.
