A massive dust storm was racing toward Chicago and the rest of northern Illinois, putting motorists and people with respiratory illnesses at risk, weather officials warned Friday evening.
Zachary Yack, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Romeoville office, said at 6:30 p.m. that the storm was engulfing office headquarters, reducing visibility to less than half a mile.
The storm was moving at about 60 mph northward, carrying dust from central Illinois’ farms picked up in a cluster of thunderstorms earlier Friday, he said.
The exact path of the storm was not clear, Yack said. “It’s racing north pretty quickly,” he said. “This is unusual for us.”
Residents in Cook, Kane and DuPage counties should be prepared for visibility to drop rapidly from “almost perfect” to nearly zero, and motorists in particular should take precautions, he said. Yack advised that drivers “pull over and wait it out, make sure they have hazards on and try to get as far away from lanes of travel as possible.”
Others who were not driving should think of the storm like they would a fog bank, Yack said: “you don’t want to be someplace where people can’t see you.”
The storm appeared to take about 30 minutes to pass through, and was making its way through south suburban Homewood about 6:30 p.m.
The dust storm warning will remain in effect through 8:30 p.m., per the weather service. Federal flight officials issued a ground stop at O’Hare International Airport through 8:15 p.m. and at Midway International Airport through 8 p.m. Friday.
