The majority of western Illinois is under tornado watch until Sunday night, with “a couple of intense tornadoes” possible in the area.
The watch encompasses the majority of Illinois’ western borders with Iowa and Missouri, as well as nearly half of the state’s counties (47 in all).
According to the National Weather Service, the watch will extend until 10 p.m. Sunday night.
In addition to the tornado threat, wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour are possible in the area, with “likely damaging wind gusts” forecast in severe storms that form in the impacted area.
According to the National Weather Service, the storms might produce hail the size of ping pong balls.
Closer to Chicago, showers and thunderstorms are predicted to return late Sunday and into Monday morning, but they are not expected to be severe, according to the NBC 5 Storm Team.
Forecast models indicate that some storms may produce gusty gusts and small hail.
