There is a tornado watch in place for the afternoon and evening in Chicago's south suburbs and Northwest Indiana.

The Chicago area could see strong-to-severe thunderstorms on Sunday, with isolated tornadoes and damaging winds possible.

Several states in the central U.S. were hit hard overnight by a deadly storm that reportedly caused flash flooding and even destructive tornadoes.

A warm front is lifting northward through Chicagoland, creating a favorable environment for severe storms going into the evening hours. Damaging wind gusts, large hail, and tornadoes will be possible with any storms that become severe. Following the storms this evening, skies will become partly cloudy tonight with lows in the 40s.

Hurricane-force winds were also reported in parts of the area. Wind gusts topped out at 81 mph in Valparaiso, Indiana, 75 mph in Lakes of the Four Seasons in Indiana, and 74 mph in Gary, Indiana, and Lynwood, Illinois.

National Weather Service weather balloon releases — tracking temperature, pressure and wind speed — have been temporarily suspended in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, because of staff shortages and reduced at six other sites in the Midwest and Great Plains, according to agency memos.

A massive storm hitting the central U.S. on Wednesday could spin up damaging tornadoes and dump heavy rain from northern Texas to the Great Lakes.

Up to 72 million from Texas to Michigan are under severe storm risk as heavy rains, flash flooding and strong tornadoes are forecast to hit the lower Ohio Valley and the mid-South.