The city of Chicago and surrounding suburbs braced against high winds Friday, with wind gusts reaching up to 60 mph, causing power outages, tree limbs and debris to blow across yards and roads and semitrucks to roll over on highways.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning in effect until 4 p.m. Friday for north central and northeast Illinois, as well as northwest Indiana.
“Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles,” the warning said. Power outages were also possible, it said. Residents should avoid windows and watch for falling debris and tree limbs. “Use caution if you must drive,” the warning said.
Indeed, Indiana State Police reported around 2 p.m. Friday that two semitrucks rolled over on Interstate 65 and asked for people to “reconsider travel” along the highway because of wind conditions.
“Dangerous wind gusts have the potential to roll over semis (especially empty ones) and other large vehicles,” Indiana State Police in Lowell said in Facebook post Friday. “I don’t know about you, but I would not want to be next to a semi that rolls over!”
The first truck, a natural gas semi cab, flipped near the 222 mile marker on I-65 and the second one was near the 238 mile marker, impacting traffic.
“We are working as fast as we can to safely get these semis turned back over. If you find yourself stuck behind an overturned semi, please DO NOT attempt to turn around or drive the wrong way on the interstate,” the statement said.
About 73,000 customers were experiencing a power outage in Indiana as of 2 p.m., according to PowerOutage US. Conditions were better in Illinois with only 1,972 active outages as of 2:45 p.m., according to ComEd.
While windy, the high was expected to reach near 43, with partly sunny skies on Friday. The west winds were expected to blow between 30 to 35 mph, with gusts as high as 55 to 60 mph.
“Wind gusts are going to continue through the morning, but they are going to just generally and very slowly subside kind of through the afternoon,” said David King, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Chicago. “So people can still expect a windy day, at least through the early afternoon, but then hopefully winds are gonna become a little bit lighter overnight.”
On Saturday, weather officials are calling for a slight chance of snow showers before 4 p.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow showers. The city is scheduled for its annual dyeing of the Chicago River and downtown St. Patrick’s Day parade Saturday, and festival-goers can expect conditions to be cloudy, with a high near 40.
Weather officials said thunderstorms may develop Sunday between 1 and 4 p.m., with showers after 4 p.m. Parade-goers attending the South Side Irish Parade St. Patrick’s Day can expect winds blowing as high as 30 mph, with a chance of showers before 1 p.m.
Unlike the severe weather Tuesday, which saw deadly tornados in Illinois and Indiana, the primary hazard for Sunday is “damaging winds,” King said.
Temperatures are expected to warm up Sunday reaching the 60s in the daytime, with strong winds as high as 30 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Overnight Sunday, weather officials expect rain showers turning into snow showers.
“Unfortunately this is March in Chicago. One day we’re actually getting this warm up where we think spring is here and then wait a minute, winter just wants to have one more say,” King said.
