Flash flood watch continues into Thursday: weather service

CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - The National Weather Service extended a Flash Flood Watch Thursday for portions of Illinois and Northwest Indiana, saying that multiple counties will be hit with several waves of rainfall throughout the day.

The Flash Flood Watch began at 7 a.m. and will last into the afternoon, the weather service said. Rainfall totals could reach up to an inch and a half in Cook, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, LaSalle, Lake, Livingston and Will Counties in Illinois, as well as Lake County in Northwest Indiana.

Showers and scattered thunderstorms, which build on Wednesday’s heavy rainfall, could cause flash flooding, the weather service said. Poor drainage areas, as well as land near rivers, streams, creeks and retention ponds, are particularly susceptible.

The rain is expected to let up early Friday, the weather service said, with a slight chance of showers late Friday night. Saturday and Sunday should be mostly dry, before the rain returns early next week.

Temperatures will reach a high of 50 on Thursday and Friday and fall to the low 40s in the evening hours, the weather service said.