Saturday rainfall breaks records for wettest day since 2011
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CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - Heavy rain plummeted across the Chicago area on Saturday, flooding streets and rivers and breaking records for the wettest day in recent history.
About 4.19 inches of rain fell over O’Hare International Airport on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. It was the wettest day since 2011, when 6.68 inches of rain fell on July 23rd.
The downpour, which continued nonstop for about 18 hours and flooded the Chicago Riverwalk, was also the most rainfall seen in a single day during the month of October since Oct. 3, 1954, when 3.95 inches of rain were recorded, according to the Weather Service.
Between Saturday and Sunday, 4.39 inches of rain were recorded at O’Hare, the Weather Service said. It was the fourth-highest two-day total ever recorded in October.
The western suburbs were hit the hardest by the downpour, with about 9.3 inches of rain recorded in Burr Ridge, according to the Weather Service. About 5.05 inches of rainfall were recorded in southwest suburban Plainfield.
The northwest suburbs received the least amount of rainfall, with about 2.01 inches of rain recorded in Rockford, according to the Weather Service. In north suburban Waukegan, 3.57 inches of rain were recorded.
Flooding was expected to continue Sunday night and Monday along portions of the DuPage, Des Plaines, Fox and Illinois rivers, according to the Weather Service.
The rain had cleared by Sunday night as a cold front moved into the area. Skies were mostly cloudy, but expected to clear by Monday, which should be sunny with a high near 60 degrees, according to the Weather Service.
Temperatures are expected to continue rising to around 70 degrees by Friday.