Snow, Ice to Threaten Travel From Denver to Oklahoma City

As Arctic air pushes southward across the Great Plains through Friday, a swath of snow and ice will develop and create slippery travel from Nebraska and Colorado to parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

The arrival of the Arctic air will erase temperatures in the 60s and 70s and replace them with temperatures in the 20s and 30s in a matter of hours.

Many major highways will be adversely affected by the snow and ice, including I-20, I-25, I-35, I-40, I-70 and I-80.

The greatest amount of snow will fall from the mountains of Colorado and northern New Mexico, where 6 to 12 inches of snow are forecast.

In most areas, a heavy amount of snow and ice is not expected. However, even a small amount of snow and ice can create dangerous travel conditions, when combined with plunging temperatures.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/snow-ice-slippery-roads-denver-to-oklahoma-city/20143924

Eastern US Thanksgiving Week Storm May Cause Travel Trouble

Early indications are that the weather will cooperate for most holiday travelers over the Plains and West during the week of Thanksgiving, but there could be some problems in the South and East.

The painful blast of wind-driven Arctic air set to invade the Plains this week and East this weekend will fade in most areas while a storm sinking southward in the West will move away.

Cold air, bands of lake-effect snow and flurries will linger over the Upper Midwest much of next week.

However, the same storm affecting the West this week is forecast to slide slowly eastward during the week of Thanksgiving.

For those hitting the roads or airways early next week, areas of rain and mountain snow will move slowly out from the Four Corners region toward the Gulf Coast. Drenching rain and thunderstorms will crawl eastward along the Gulf Coast Monday into Tuesday.

In the wake of the Southwest storm, most areas in the Plains and West are likely to be free of rain and snow for the big travel day Wednesday. The only exception may be part of the immediate Pacific Coast, where a bit of rain may arrive later in the day or at night.

The speed at which this storm moves along and how sharp of a left turn the storm takes later next week is uncertain.

For most areas along the East Coast and South, it will be a question of rain or not on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day. Rain, poor visibility and low ceilings alone on Wednesday can lead to its share of major delays.

However, just enough chilly air may be in place beginning around the central Appalachians northward to New England for snow and ice, depending on the track, strength and timing of that Gulf Coast storm, which is likely to become an Atlantic coast storm.

According to AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Bernie Rayno, "There are a lot of possibilities next week with the storm in the East, but whether or not there is snow north and west of the I-95 corridor is still uncertain at this time."

The pattern remains progressive enough that a small difference in the storm's track could mean the difference between rain, now or a dry forecast for many communities.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/thanksgiving-travel-weather-ou/20108590

Vietnam Braces for Another Tropical System

A system looks to hit Indochina late this week, bringing more flooding rains to Vietnam.

This cyclone passed over the devastation-ravaged Philippines Tuesday and Wednesday, slowing the recovery and relief efforts from Super Typhoon Haiyan.

The system is expected to race westward for the end of the week, slamming into southern Vietnam by early Friday (local time).

Now over open waters in the South China Sea, the disturbance has a window of opportunity to strengthen into a more organized system. While the high speed of the storm towards land makes the development into a tropical storm unlikely, a tropical depression could still form before reaching Vietnam.

Whether the system officially becomes organized or not, flooding rains are forecast to impact the area. Rounds of moderate to heavy rain could total as much as 200mm (4 inches) in some places, especially near Hue and farther inland in southwestern Cambodia and southern Thailand.

Even though this will remain south of the path Haiyan took to Ha Noi and into southern China, flooding remains a threat. Many storms have already impacted this area thus far in the season, leaving the ground quite saturated already.

Luckily, the minimal strength of this storm will keep down wind speeds to a rather insignificant threshold. However, some locally damaging winds are possible.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/vietnam-flood-haiyan/19898559

Tropical Depression Zoraida Lurks as Haiyan Relief Continues

Even as relief efforts ramp up in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan, another tropical disturbance is threatening the Philippines.

A tropical depression, named Zoraida by the Philippine weather agency PAGASA, is approaching the east coast of Mindanao, the largest island in the southern part of the Philippines. As of 4 a.m. Tuesday local time (3 p.m. EST Monday in the U.S.), Zoraida was centered about 120 miles east of Davao City.

Davao is one of the largest cities in the Philippines, with over 1.4 million people in the city and 2.2 million people in its metropolitan area.

Philippines Satellite

While winds are currently weak with this system and only minor intensification is expected, the rainfall that comes with it will be unwelcome, particularly if it nudges north into the central Philippines where Haiyan (known in the Philippines as Yolanda) dealt its worst blow. Zoraida is moving in a west-northwesterly direction, so the greatest impacts should remain across the southern Philippines.

Stay with The Weather Channel and weather.com as we follow the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/tropical-depression-zoraida-philippines-storm-typhoon-20131111

Arctic Cold May Set Stage for Eastern Snowstorm Next Week

A cold blast of air, driving into the Eastern states, may set the table for a swath of snow next week from the Ohio Valley to New England.

A few temperature swings are likely through the weekend from the Upper Midwest to the Southeast before a large zone of cold air builds into the area next week.

As the mild air is squeezed south toward the Gulf Coast, a sharp contrast in temperature should be found along the Mason-Dixon Line, westward through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys.

It is this difference in temperatures that may help a storm form by the middle of the week.

Although the exact track of a potential storm system and impacts will need to be ironed out over the next several days, it is likely that the coldest air of the season will dive into the Midwest Monday, followed by the Ohio Valley and potentially East Coast by midweek.

A few storm scenarios exist. One is that a coastal low develops near the Carolinas and slides up the East Coast, bringing coastal rain, inland snow and gusty winds.

Another possible option is that this low does not make the turn up the coast and slides out to sea instead. This track would favor a rain and snow mix for the central Appalachians with dry, cold conditions in New England.

A third scenario depicts an unusually strong storm that moves up the coast then backs into the Northeast. This type of setup would lead to heavy snow well inland but rain in the big cities of the I-95 corridor.

ABC 7 New York's Chief Meteorologist Lee Goldberg noted, "climatology does not favor major snow in along the I-95 corridor in mid-November. Snow is more likely in the higher ground north and west of the cities."

Goldberg added that this era of improved weather forecasting technology is a double-edged sword. He said the ability to predict a potential snowstorm a week in advance is great but leaves meteorologists with several days where it's hard to pinpoint specifics.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/arctic-cold-may-set-stage-for/19688258

What the world would look like if all ice melted

If all of the ice in the world melted, sea levels would raise some 216 feet. But what exactly would that look like? And more specifically, what would such a worse-case scenario mean for the Earth’s population?

National Geographic has created a fascinating visual representation of this thought experiment and provided an analysis of how each continent would be affected by such a catastrophic change.

First off, this is not a blanket statement about climate change. As National Geographic notes, even scientists tracking the melting of ice around the world say it would take some 5,000 years for all the world’s ice to melt.

Still, it’s interesting to look at exactly what would happen if this scenario was taken to its most extreme conclusion.

As a result of the drastic rise in sea levels, the average temperature around the Earth would rise from 58 degrees to 80 degrees.

In North America, the entire Atlantic seaboard would vanish beneath the waves, including Florida and the Gulf Coast. Much of California would be underwater. Millions of Americans would be permanently dislocated from their homes to say nothing of the potentially insurmountable impact on natural wildlife.

And again, this scenario is only based on current population figures. Who knows what the Earth will look like in 5,000 years and how many people will be living here?

In South America, Buenos Aires, coastal Uruguay and most of Paraguay would be submerged.

Africa would technically be largely untouched but much of its would become inhabitable because of the increased temperature. In Egypt, Alexandria and Cairo would be “swamped” by flooding waters from the Mediterranean.

Many of Europe’s greatest landmarks would be destroyed: London would disappear, Venice, gone. The Netherlands and most of Denmark would also be entirely underwater.

In Asia, National Geographic says land currently inhabited by 600 million Chinese would be underwater, as would all of Bangladesh and coastal India.

As for Australia, they would gain a new sea in the center of the continent, but lose the coastal strip where more than 80 percent of the population lives.

And Antarctica? Virtually unrecognizable. After all, that’s where the vast majority of the Earth’s ice resides today.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/what-the-world-would-look-like-if-all-the-ice-melted-015759322.html

Indonesia's Mount Sinabung Volcano Erupts for the Third Time

MEDAN, Indonesia -- A volcano in western Indonesia erupted again Sunday, unleashing volcanic ash high into the sky and forcing the evacuation of villagers living around its slope.

Officials raised Mount Sinabung's alert status to the second-highest level after the 8,530-foot-high mountain erupted early Sunday, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Authorities were working to evacuate residents from four North Sumatra province villages located within the mountain's two-mile danger zone, Nugroho said. About 1,300 villagers have been relocated to safer areas so far.

(MORE: A Slow-Moving Disaster is Eating Away at Louisiana)

It was the volcano's second big eruption since late last month, with its Oct. 24 explosion prompting the evacuation of more than 3,300 people.

In September, more than 15,000 people were forced to flee when Mount Sinabung rumbled to life after being dormant for three years.

The volcano's previous major eruption, in August 2010, killed two people and forced 30,000 others to flee. It caught many scientists off guard because it had been quiet for four centuries.

Mount Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

http://www.weather.com/news/indonesia-mount-sinabung-volcano-erupts-20131104

After Krosa, Philippines Face More Tropical Troubles

The departure of Typhoon Krosa from Luzon Island will not mean the end of tropical troubles for the Philippines with two more tropical systems potentially in the works for next week.

After enduring damaging winds and flooding rain Thursday night, northern Luzon Island will see weather conditions gradually improve in a east-to-west fashion on Friday as Typhoon Krosa departs.

Krosa will then set its sights on central Vietnam for early next week.

While Krosa heads toward Vietnam, there are signs that another tropical system will be impacting the Philippines around Monday of next week.

That system could be followed by another later in the week.

While more precise details of each will become clearer in the upcoming days, current indications point toward these systems taking a track south of Krosa and impacting central parts of the Philippines.

The nation's capital of Manila escaped being significantly impacted from Krosa, but the city may fare worse next week.

The first system could have time to strengthen into a tropical storm before reaching the Philippines around Monday. Even if it fails to reach that status, it should still be accompanied by heavy rain and the threat of flooding.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/typhoon-krosa-philippines-weat/19442578

Nor'easters Could Spell Disaster for Vulnerable Sandy-Ravaged Coast

Though New Jersey's Sandy-ravaged beaches reopened in time for the summer, a familiar feature was missing from many: the dunes which once barricaded the coastal towns and protected them from the ocean's threats.

One year later, amid the season capable of producing nasty nor'easters, storm-wary residents are wondering why the dunes have not been reconstructed along stretches of the now-delicate coastline.

When Sandy made landfall one year ago, the unprecedented storm surge wreaked havoc on the dune system that stretched from Monmouth to Ocean and Cape May counties.

Sandy was an intense hybrid storm, part tropical and part nor'easter, which took an unusual left turn resulting in extensive damage to the eastern United States.

Nor'easters are notorious for producing severe coastal flooding and erosion. Without a line of defense, another strong one could spell disaster for the still-recovering towns.

"A regular coastal nor'easter could be devastating to coastal New Jersey right now. These storms can be just as powerful as a strong tropical storm or minimal hurricane," AccuWeather.com Expert Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said. "They are very vulnerable right now."

This year, the risk for these coastal storms will arrive beginning in January but will become more likely during February and March.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/noreasters-sandy-dunes/19379927

Beijing Super Smog Update: Emergency Measures Shut Down Factories, Limit Traffic

BEIJING -- Beijing is seeking to tame the spikes in its infamous smog by preparing emergency measures such as factory shutdowns and traffic limits to kick in when air pollution levels are especially heavy.

The city government said Tuesday the strictest emergency measures will take effect when the pollution index for fine particulate matter, PM2.5, is forecast to exceed 300 micrograms per cubic meter for three days running.

Private vehicles will be allowed to operate only on alternating days, depending on the last number of their license plates. Factory emissions will be cut 30 percent by suspending or limiting production, and construction sites must halt excavation and demolition work. Classes will be suspended, a measure likely to cause inconvenience in a city where most parents both work.

They apply only to industries and individuals in Beijing, despite the fact that as much as 60 percent of the city's air pollution wafts in from neighboring provinces, such as Hebei to the south.

Vehicle emissions are blamed for about a quarter of the pollution, with coal-fired plants and factory production blamed for most of the rest.

Odd-even license plate traffic restrictions and limits on industrial activity were first rolled out as temporary measures during the 2008 Summer Olympics, after which the city enjoyed a brief improvement in air quality.

http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/beijing-super-smog-update-emergency-measures-shut-down-factories-limit-traffic-20131022

Cold Temperatures Engulf Central, East; Snow in Midwest, Great Lakes

During the past weekend, an initial blast of chilly air moved into the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes.

Yet another shot of even colder air is expected early this week, which will drop temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below average across most of the Midwest. This second blast of cold air will also surge into the southern and eastern states by Wednesday. By late week, another reinforcing shot of cold air will take over the central and eastern states. The three temperature forecast maps to the right illustrate the falling temperatures from the start to the end of the week.

The chilly temperatures will be the most persistent in the Midwest. Minneapolis, for example, will not warm out of the 40s through Saturday. Highs in the 40s will keep Chicago shivering throughout the new work week.

(HIGHS: Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri)

Portions of North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan will not get out of the 30s at times during the week ahead.

In the South, afternoon temperatures in the 50s are possible Wednesday and Friday in parts of Tennessee, northern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, northern Alabama, northern Georgia and North Carolina.

Of course, morning temperatures will be even colder. Many locations in the Midwest will see lows in the upper 20s and low 30s at times through the week ahead. By late week, lows in the 30s are possible as far south as northern Georgia and northern Alabama.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/cold-temperatures-central-east-midwest-great-lakes-snow-20131021

Perfect Storm: Blizzard, Shutdown Pummel South Dakota Ranchers

The early autumn blizzard struck the state with unexpected fury, dumping a record-breaking 19 inches (48 centimeters) of snow on Rapid City on Friday, Oct. 4. Other parts of the state got more, with some regions reporting snowdrifts almost 5 feet (1.5 meters) deep.

As troubling as this storm was for people, the blizzard was devastating for the region's cattle. Some ranchers are reporting losses of more than 90 percent of their herds. And help, unfortunately, is not on its way to South Dakota's $7-billion cattle industry, due to the shutdown at federal agencies — a shutdown that some claim the state's congressional representatives helped to create. [The 19 Weirdest Effects of the Government Shutdown]

As the snow melted, the losses mounted for the state's ranchers, who now face the grisly task of documenting the number of dead, rotting cattle carcasses littering their land. "There are no words to describe the devastation and loss," Joan Wink of Wink Cattle Company told Modern Farmer. "I'm not going to take photos. These deaths are too gruesome. Nobody wants to see this."

Many of the cattle died of hypothermia — winds in the blizzard reached 70 mph (113 km/h) — or were suffocated under deep snowdrifts. The week prior to the blizzard, temperatures were above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), and cattle did not yet have the protection of thick winter coats of hair.

http://news.yahoo.com/perfect-storm-blizzard-shutdown-pummel-south-dakota-ranchers-210212629.html

Small Plane Carrying 14 Missing in Mexico's Baja; Tropical Storm Octave Halts Search

LOS CABOS, Mexico (AP) -- Mexican authorities are searching for a second day for a small plane carrying 14 people that went missing in northern Mexico.

The plane was operated by a small local carrier and all those aboard are believed to have been Mexican citizens.

The Transportation Department's representative in Baja California Sur state says five civilian and military aircraft are participating in the search. Alejandro Cruz said Tuesday the search has covered terrain stretching from the beach town of Loreto south to Ciudad Constitucion, the plane's intended destination.

(MORE: Track Tropical Storm Octave)

The small, single-engine propeller plane disappeared shortly after taking off from Loreto on Monday morning amid bad weather caused by Tropical Storm Octave, which has since weakened to a tropical depression.

The search was suspended Monday because of bad weather.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/small-plane-carrying-14-missing-mexicos-baja-tropical-storm-octave-halts-search-20131015

Upper Midwest struck by unusual autumn tornadoes, snowstorm

The upper Midwest was recovering on Saturday from an unusual autumn wallop from a fierce snowstorm that trapped dozens of people in vehicles in western South Dakota and a swarm of tornadoes that left at least 15 people injured in rural Nebraska and Iowa.

The snowstorm in South Dakota left four-wheel-drive vehicles, snow plows and even rescuers in fire trucks stuck, White said. Fire stations opened as emergency shelters.

About 380 miles of Interstate 90 were closed from western South Dakota to northeastern Wyoming, according to transportation departments in both states.

The National Weather Service, which is running on a reduced staff because of the federal government shutdown, issued blizzard and severe winter storm warnings across the northern part of the Great Plains for Saturday.

It also warned of a risk of severe thunderstorms later on Saturday in nine states stretching from Wisconsin to Arkansas, although the threat of tornadoes was diminished.

It said the storm would continue to produce widespread heavy snow and strong winds through late Saturday in central South Dakota. The Black Hills area has seen near record snowfall accumulations.

"It's not normal this time of year, but it is not unheard of," said Cory Martin, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in North Platte, Nebraska. "But this amount of snow for an October storm is on the higher end."

It is also rare for tornadoes to strike in the fall. The most active season is usually in the spring or early summer.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-snow-storm-20131005,0,2437292.story

Karen's Flooding Rain to Skirt the Gulf Coast

Karen has lost its battle with dry air and disruptive wind shear. The once-strong tropical storm weakened to a tropical rainstorm midday Sunday.

Despite weakening, the center of Karen will churn eastward near the coast of the upper Gulf Coast through Monday before moving into the northern Florida Peninsula.

The main impact of Karen during that time will be to spread drenching showers and thunderstorms onto the upper Gulf Coast from far southeastern Louisiana to the northwestern peninsula of Florida.

These showers and thunderstorms will continue to occur east of Karen's center and on Monday will be confined to Florida as the rest of the upper Gulf Coast dries out.

Also through Monday, some of the moisture from Karen will get drawn northward andenhance the rain accompanying a cold front spreading from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Flooding, especially in low-lying and poor drainage areas, is a concern.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/tropical-development-possible-1/18390176

First Significant Snow for Rockies, Northwest

Cold air will continue to plunge across the Rockies allowing for snow into Friday in some areas, perhaps foreshadowing things to come in winter.

A cold front swept the Northwest for the early part of the week, starting off fall on a chillier note.

The cool air mixed with Pacific moisture produced the first significant snowfall of the season across parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.

The snow settled farther to the south and east during Thursday night and Friday, reaching central Wyoming and western Colorado.

The lower valleys were too warm to receive snow, but elevations from about 4,000 feet and higher will saw snowflakes with accumulating snow beginning around 5,000 feet.

The first potent storm of the season from the Pacific Ocean with wind and waves will likely strike the British Columbia, Washington and Oregon coasts Saturday into Monday.

After some days with highs in the upper 80s in the middle of September, this cool shot will seem like a drastic change. Although temperatures will be slightly below average, snow this time of year in the northern Rockies is not that uncommon.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/snow-rockies-winter-northwest/18087712

Storm brings tornado to Pacific Northwest

SEATTLE (AP) — A rare tornado damaged industrial buildings south of Seattle as an unseasonable September storm dumped record amounts of rain and temporarily knocked out power for thousands in the Pacific Northwest.

The tornado at 7:20 a.m. Monday hit the industrial area of Frederickson, tearing a hole in the roof of the Northwest Door factory, blowing out car windows at a nearby Boeing factory, and damaging a building where sections of a downtown Seattle tunnel project were being assembled.

There were no injuries at those buildings or at nearby homes, where trees also fell.

A team from the National Weather Service office in Seattle went to the scene and confirmed the tornado from eyewitness accounts, meteorologist Johnny Burg said.

The Weather Service classified the tornado as an EF1, with a maximum wind speed of 110 mph.

The damage, including a jagged 40-by-40-foot hole in the roof at Northwest Door, stopped work at the factory that makes garage doors. About 100 workers evacuated.

"It looked from the inside like a wave going along. You could actually see the roof flexing," Northwest Door President Jeff Hohman said.

The tornado also ripped off one-third of the roof and destroyed a metal garage door at a tent-like structure in Frederickson where a company called EnCon is welding rebar cages for use in the tunnel project under downtown Seattle. Project manager Kasandra Paholsky said the damage forced work to halt but ultimately will not affect the schedule for digging the Highway 99 tunnel.

Washington may get a tornado or two every year, but they are usually small. One of the largest was an EF3 in 1972 in Vancouver that killed six people.

http://news.yahoo.com/storm-brings-tornado-pacific-northwest-211620039.html

Hurricane Season Tropical Update

We are now past most of the main peak, and even in active "Cape Verde" seasons (storms developing in the eastern Atlantic), that usually winds down after approximately today's date (last week in September).

In October, when there's on average a secondary peak, the primary development area typically shifts back to the Caribbean and Gulf, like early in the season, with also some storms forming in the subtropical/central Atlantic.

Currently there is no sign of any storms forming in the tropics. The disturbance well east of Puerto Rico looks somewhat impressive on the satellite image below but the bark is worse than both the bite and the prospects for development. The southwest Caribbean will be an area to watch over the next couple of weeks but the current batch of thunderstorms there is not expected to further organize.

The outcome of this whole thing is still several days away, and in the past with winter storms and tropical storms we've seen critical shifts in track forecasts in these time frames, but in this case it would take a radical change in forecasts of track and intensity to produce a significantly different result than what is currently expected, and at least for now the models aren't vacillating nearly as much as they were earlier this week.

http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/

Crops in India Wilt in a Weak Monsoon Season

Drought has devastated crops around the world this year, including corn and soybeans in the United States, wheat in Russia and Australia and soybeans in Brazil and Argentina. This has contributed to a 6 percent rise in global food pricesfrom June to July, according to United Nations data.

India is experiencing its fourth drought in a dozen years, raising concerns about the reliability of the country’s primary source of fresh water, the monsoon rains that typically fall from June to October.

Some scientists warn that such calamities are part of a trend that is likely to intensify in the coming decades because of climate changes caused by the human release of greenhouse gases.

Scientists say that in addition to increasing temperatures, climate change appears to be making India and its neighbors Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh more vulnerable to erratic monsoons.

India is more vulnerable to disruption from drought than countries like the United States. While agriculture accounts for just 15 percent of India’s economy, half of its 1.2 billion people work on farms, and many of its poorest citizens already cannot afford enough food after price increases of 10 percent or more in the last couple of years.

Weak monsoon rains were also an underlying cause of the blackouts that cut power to half of the country in July. The paucity of water lowered the supply of power from dams that account for a fifth of electric capacity, even as consumers cranked up fans and air-conditioners and farmers ran electric pumps to draw water from wells.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/business/global/drought-in-india-devastates-crops-and-farmers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Flash floods hit Chicago area

September 18, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Severe storms caused problems across the Chicago area Wednesday night.

Only one lane of traffic was passable on sections of the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways during the severe storms Wednesday evening.

Parts of the South Side Bronzeville neighborhood were hit with more than three inches of rain Wednesday. Nearly two inches of rain fell in south suburban Burnham in about 55 minutes, and quarter-sized hail fell in northwest suburban Des Plaines, according to the weather service.

The storms also put on a major light show across the Chicago area and along with that, loud thunder.

Both directions of the Eisenhower Expressway experienced flooding between Western and Ashland Avenues.

On the CTA, buses on the No. 66 Chicago line, the No. 49 Western line, the No. J14 Jeffery Jump line and No. 95E 93rd to 95th line were because of flooded viaducts.

Pink Line trains were briefly halted at Damen because of debris on the tracks, but service has since resumed with residual delays, the CTA said.

Tree limbs were down and power was out in some parts of Niles as of 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

The storm brought hail to the area around Devon in Dempster in Chicago as well.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?id=9253734