There is a tornado watch in place for the afternoon and evening in Chicago's south suburbs and Northwest Indiana.

A warm front is lifting northward through Chicagoland, creating a favorable environment for severe storms going into the evening hours. Damaging wind gusts, large hail, and tornadoes will be possible with any storms that become severe. Following the storms this evening, skies will become partly cloudy tonight with lows in the 40s.

A tornado watch was issued Sunday afternoon until 7 ... The severe weather was expected to hit the Chicago metropolitan area between 1 and 4 p.m., said meteorologist Brett Borchardt of NWS Chicago.

Hurricane-force winds were also reported in parts of the area. Wind gusts topped out at 81 mph in Valparaiso, Indiana, 75 mph in Lakes of the Four Seasons in Indiana, and 74 mph in Gary, Indiana, and Lynwood, Illinois.

Hail and massive wind gusts pelted the Chicago area as severe thunderstorms rumbled through Sunday afternoon. The system had prompted a tornado watch covering most of northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana, but the National Weather Service canceled it by 3:15 p.m. with storms rolling out over Lake Michigan.

The tornado watch is in effect till 7 p.m. for Chicago, the surrounding south and west suburbs and northwest Indiana. Nine total counties in Illinois are under the watch: Cook, DuPage, Grundy ...

In and around Jacksonville, the threat of severe weather is somewhat lighter. There is no tornado watch at the moment, but a wind advisory is in play for this evening and overnight into Thursday. The chance of severe weather in the area is also at 80%, but it will fall to 30% Wendesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Severe storms are racing into the Chicago area, prompting a tornado watch and the possibility of a messy, hazardous commute home from work. The Tornado Watch is in effect for Ford, Grundy, Kankakee, Livingston and Will counties in Illinois and Jasper,