Powerful storms spawned by intense heat and humidity produced flooding and tornadoes on Saturday, disrupting travel and cutting power to thousands.  More than 7.5″ of rain fell at Chicago’s Midway Airport, the amount the city would see normally over a 2-month period.  A large area of the Midwest is being affected, but the Chicago area is feeling the brunt of the heavier rains.

Forecasters noted that a similar weather pattern was also developing in Pennsylvania and New York, where a rare tornado watch was issued for NYC and northern New Jersey.

In Illinois, the Eisenhower Expressway, which connects Chicago to the western suburbs, was closed by flooding just after dawn.  Service was also disrupted on at least half the train routes and many buses were re-routed.

About 50,000 customers were without power in northeastern Illinois on Saturday.

In Iowa, a tornado touched down near the town of Indianola, damaging property but causing no injuries.  The NWS said that over 6-10″ of rain had fallen in northeastern Iowa over the last 3 days.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency on Friday after torrential rains flooded homes and opened sinkholes in Milwaukee and closed the airport.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 24th, 2010 at 13:10 and is filed under Weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.