The Chicago area is under an “increased” risk of severe weather Tuesday night, but strong winds ahead of the storms are already causing severe problems, leaving thousands without power.
More than 12,000 customers were without power by 8:20 p.m., with many outages in far northern Illinois, according to ComEd.
More than 4,300 customers were without power in Stephenson County and about 2,000 in Cook and Winnebago counties, according to the utility.
Several hundred people were left in the dark in Lake and DuPage counties.
Along with gusty winds, severe thunderstorms began to affect western Illinois late Tuesday afternoon and into the evening, prompting warnings in multiple counties.
The Chicago area has multiple counties under a tornado watch, including McHenry, DeKalb, Kane, LaSalle and Kendall counties.
With those storms approaching, the utility said it was taking steps to shore up the grid and deploying crews to deal with outages as the night progressed.
After a cold front moves through the area Wednesday morning, winds are expected to drop and colder temperatures will follow.