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.

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.

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.

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

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.

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has expanded a Tornado Watch for central Illinois on Wednesday. The watch is in effect until 10 a.m. CDT for most of the WAND viewing area.

More than 109 million Americans from the southern Great Lakes region to as far south as Texas and Louisiana face a dangerous severe weather threat on Sunday, with storms that could pack destructive wind gusts,

The Storm Prediction Center has areas southeast of I-55 in an "Enhanced Risk," this is a level 3 of 5 on their severe risk scale. Locations near and along I-55 are in a "Slight Risk" (level 2 of 5), and then north and northwest portions of Chicagoland are in a "Marginal Risk" (level 1/5).