Thanks, Thora.
"Between 3:00pm and 4:15pm CT, the Chicago metro was absolutely pounded by intense, violent thunderstorms. The majority of the storm damage was due to destructive winds on the order of 50 to 70 mph winds.
Throughout Chicago, there have been damage reports of widespread felled large trees (some over 100 years old), blown out windows in skyscrapers, power poles and lines down, semis and cars blown off roadways, roof collapse, building collapses, and finally home and building damage mainly due to fallen trees.
Because the storms pounded the area during the rush hour period, traffic across the city came to a standstill. The thunderstorms developed over eastern Iowa and quickly pushed east towards Lake Michigan.
One stalled front, followed by a second one, has focused day after day of flooding rain and thunderstorms over northern Iowa, southern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, northwest Ohio and adjacent areas. A number of locations are dealing with 6-day rainfall totals close to or over 12 inches and a few rivers with near record or record crests.
The second stalled front will finally begin to move, advancing from a Michigan-to-Kansas line Friday morning to the Kentucky-Tennessee and Missouri-Arkansas borders by Sunday. Heavy rain and severe (damaging wind gusts and some hail) thunderstorms will still drench the area from Kansas to lower Michigan Friday.
The thunderstorms will shift into the eastern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley Saturday.
By Sunday, the Plains and Midwest will be almost entirely rain free, finally allowing the flood waters to recede.
North of the front, highs will be in the 60s and 70s Friday and in the 70s over the weekend. South of the front, the heat will continue with highs in the 90s and even one more day of 100 degrees or just above for western and central Kentucky on Friday.
Monday through Thursday, a new cold front will traverse the region from the Dakotas to the eastern Ohio Valley. More strong thunderstorms and downpours are possible but at least this next front will keep moving southward and eastward each day."