Early morning thunderstorms caused ground stops at O’Hare and Midway airports and 1 to 3 inches of rain fell throughout the Chicago area in “the most rain we’ve seen in a month,” according to forecasters.
About 3 inches of rain fell in Aurora, and 2 inches was reported in Romeoville, according to the National Weather Service. About seven-tenths of an inch fell at O’Hare, and Midway saw 1.6 inches of rain.
Ground stops were initially reported at both airports early Thursday morning, but flights are moving with an average delay of over two hours, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
As of 9:25 a.m., 159 flights were canceled at O’Hare with over 800 more facing delays, according to FlightAware. At Midway, over 25 flights were canceled and more than 135 were delayed.
A flood advisory was in effect for the Chicago metro area until 10:30 a.m., though meteorologist Brett Borchardt said the heaviest rain of the day has passed.
“We are still going to have some spotty showers and storms through the next few hours across the morning, but otherwise we are looking at a largely dry rest of the day,” Borchardt said.
Borchardt urged commuters to be mindful of slippery road conditions related to Thursday morning’s storms.
“If [you] do come upon an intersection or road that is flooded over, [you] just never want to drive through that since we don’t know how deep it is,” Borchardt said.
The Chicago area will get a slight stretch of dry conditions before rainfall returns Friday night into early Saturday.
About seven-tenths of a inch fell at O’Hare, and Midway saw 1.6 inches of rain.
About seven-tenths of a inch fell at O’Hare, and Midway saw 1.6 inches of rain.
