Parts of the Chicago area were inundated by nearly six inches of rain in mere hours overnight, causing flash flooding across the region.
Those eye-popping numbers were especially prevalent in the western and southern suburbs, where wave after wave of showers and strong-to-severe thunderstorms dumped several inches of rain per hour in the hours before daybreak.
The National Weather Service still has Kane, Kendall and Will counties under a flood warning until noon Sunday, with another inch of rain possible before storms finally clear out of the area.
Communities like Aurora, Joliet, Naperville and Bolingbrook all experienced heavy rains overnight, and could see additional flash flooding in the morning hours.
According to local storm reports from the National Weather Service, Oswego in Kendall County reported 5.42 inches of rain between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday. In Sugar Grove in Kane County, nearly five inches of rain fell during that same timeframe.
Other parts of the area received 3-to-5 inches of rain overnight, sparking flash flood warnings in numerous communities.
According to the National Weather Service, a flood advisory also remains in effect for Grundy, Kankakee and Kendall counties, with ongoing flooding occurring and expected to continue as additional rain falls.
The storms didn’t just lead to flooding either. A series of severe thunderstorm warnings tracked the movement of the storms from northwest to southeast, with wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour reported in some communities.
The powerful storms downed power lines and snapped tree branches, and more than 60,000 ComEd customers remain without power from this morning’s storms and from storms that hammered the region on Saturday night.
Conditions are expected to calm as the day moves along, with high temperatures in the low-80s. A stray shower or two may occur during the afternoon, but the next chance of soaking rain will arrive on Monday afternoon as scattered showers and storms impact the Chicago area.