Weather Alerts For McCullom Lake, IL

# SUMMARY -------------------- THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 445 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT /8 PM EDT/ THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS IN ILLINOIS THIS WATCH INCLUDES 15 COUNTIES IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS LIVINGSTON IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS FORD IROQUOIS IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS BOONE DE KALB LA SALLE IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS COOK DUPAGE GRUNDY KANE KANKAKEE KENDALL LAKE IL MCHENRY WILL IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 5 COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST INDIANA BENTON JASPER LAKE IN NEWTON PORTER THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ALGONQUIN, AURORA, BELVIDERE, BOLINGBROOK, BOURBONNAIS, BUFFALO GROVE, CAROL STREAM, CHESTERTON, CHICAGO, COAL CITY, CRYSTAL LAKE, DEKALB, DEMOTTE, DOWNERS GROVE, DWIGHT, ELGIN, EVANSTON, FAIRBURY, FOWLER, GARY, GIBSON CITY, GILMAN, GURNEE, HAMMOND, JOLIET, KANKAKEE, KENTLAND, LA SALLE, LEMONT, LOMBARD, MARSEILLES, MCHENRY, MENDOTA, MERRILLVILLE, MINOOKA, MOROCCO, MORRIS, MUNDELEIN, NAPERVILLE, OAK LAWN, ORLAND PARK, OSWEGO, OTTAWA, OXFORD, PARK FOREST, PAXTON, PLANO, PONTIAC, PORTAGE, RENSSELAER, ROSELAWN, SCHAUMBURG, STREATOR, SYCAMORE, VALPARAISO, WATSEKA, WAUKEGAN, WHEATON, WILMINGTON, WOODSTOCK, AND YORKVILLE. # DETAILS -------------------- ISSUED AT Friday, July 3, 2026 at 11:53 AM CDT ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL HEADER WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION FOR WATCH 445

Closest strike: 3.75 miles Stay Alert! Remain in a safe area until there has been no lightning within 10 miles of this location for 30 minutes. Please be aware that lightning activity can remain high even when a storm is moving away from your location. Even if rain has stopped, do not leave your safe area until WeatherBug indicates that lightning is more than 10 miles away from this selected location. IF OUTDOORS Avoid water, high ground, and open spaces. Avoid all metal objects including electric wires, fences, and machinery. Find a safe area in a building or in a fully enclosed vehicle with the windows completely shut. Unsafe places include underneath canopies, small picnic or rain shelters, convertibles, or near trees. IF INDOORS Avoid water and stay away from doors and windows. Avoid using a hard line telephone. Take off headphones. Turn off, unplug, and stay away from appliances, computers, power tools, and TV sets. Lightning may strike exterior electric and phone lines, inducing shocks to inside equipment.

There is a Slight Severe Storm Risk for your location. Continue reading for today's outlook from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. -------------------- National Severe Storm Outlook THERE IS AN ENHANCED RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM CENTRAL NEBRASKA INTO WESTERN IOWA SUMMARY Scattered wind damage and large hail are expected from parts of Nebraska into Iowa today. Isolated to scattered severe storms are also possible extending eastward from the northern/central Plains into the Midwest, Tennessee Valley, and Mid-Atlantic. SD/NE Water vapor loop shows a weak shortwave trough over central WY approaching the Black Hills region. This, along with remnant outflow boundaries from recent convection, will aid in the development of scattered thunderstorms over western SD/NE by mid/late afternoon. Steep mid-level lapse rates and supercell structures will promote the risk of very large hail in the initial storms over the Black Hills. Activity is expected to organized into a bowing MCS during the evening and track roughly along the NE/SD border with a risk of severe wind and hail. NE/IA/Northwest MO Moderately strong southerly low-level winds over KS will maintain a hot/humid air mass across southeast NE today. Thunderstorms are expected to intensify along pre-existing outflow boundaries by late afternoon and develop/move into IA. Large CAPE in this region (MLCAPE > 4000 J/kg) and sufficient westerly flow aloft will pose a risk of supercells capable of large hail and damaging winds through the evening hours. IA/IL/IN/MI/OH A remnant outflow boundary is also tracking eastward across the MS river into northern IL. The air mass ahead of this boundary is very moist and unstable with dewpoints in the mid 70s and peak diurnal CAPE values expected to exceed 3500 J/kg. Models differ on convective evolution of storms that form in this regime, but there is potential for an upscale-growing MCS producing a swath of wind damage from northern IL into parts of IN/MI and northwest OH this evening. NY/PA/NJ Hot and humid conditions are present across much of the northeast states today, with full sunshine leading to steep low-level lapse rates and moderate CAPE. It is unclear how many thunderstorms will form in this region today given weak forcing. However, the environment is conditionally favorable for damaging winds in any convective clusters that can persist. TN Valley/Southern Appalachians A widespread moist and unstable air mass will aid in the development of disorganized and slow-moving thunderstorms again this afternoon and early evening. Weak winds aloft suggest chaotic storm evolutions, but the strongest cells will pose a risk of locally damaging winds gusts and small hail throughout the area.