Chicago Forecast: Thousands without power as heavy downpours, low visibility continues

The Chicago area woke up to power outages and a soggy morning Tuesday, with heavy downpours, scattered soaking rain and even the chance for severe weather through the evening

Around 5:30 a.m., radar showed rain pounding down all parts of northeast Illinois. According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, steady, heavy rain, gusty winds and even low visibility were all expected to last through the morning commute.

Traffic delays and crashes had already begun to pop up across the area on the slick roads, NBC 5 traffic reporter Kye Martin said, including on westbound I-80/94 near Gary Indiana, I-294 through Oak Lawn and near O'Hare International Airport.

In the western suburbs, westbound I-88 lanes were completely shut down due to a deadly two-vehicle crash. Photos and video from the scene showed heavy backups, with rain pounding down on the roads.

"For the reverse commute in the western suburbs, this will cause major delays," Martin said.

Power outages were also reported, ComEd's outage map showed, with more than 1,000 without power in Cook County. Hundreds more outages were reported across Kane and Will Counties, according to ComEd's website.

The rain also prompted the Chicago Metropolitan Water District to issue an "overflow action day alert," directing residents to reduce their use of water to help prevent flooding.

That includes delaying showers and baths, flushing toilets less frequently, and waiting to run the dishwater or washing machine.

While the rain could break at times in the afternoon, it will pick back up in the early evening, NBC 5 Storm Team meteorologist Alicia Roman said. At that time, counties to the far south, including parts of LaSalle and Kankakee, could see strong or even severe storms.

"Showers and thunderstorms are expected to redevelop this afternoon," the National Weather Service said. "A few storms could become severe, primarily near and south of LaSalle to Rensselaer line."

Between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., the Storm Prediction Center has those areas under a "slight" risk of severe weather, which ranks as level two of five on the SPC's severe weather scale. Northern Kankakee, along with parts of Will and Lake and Porter Counties in Indiana will be at a "marginal" risk, which ranks as level one.

"The main location for severe weather stretches from LaSalle County to Rensselaer, in Jasper County, Indiana," Roman said.

In those parts, all severe hazards, including a few tornadoes, were possible, along with damaging winds and damaging hail.

Temperatures Tuesday will remain in the 50s Roman said, with winds gusting as high as 40 miles-per-hour at times.

"Just a cool blustery day all around," Roman said.

Rain was expected to linger into Wednesday morning and afternoon, with more scattered showers possible in the evening.

Thursday would be drier, Roman said, though some showers could remain.