Midwest and Ohio Valley face flash-flood danger as storms bring heavy rain and wind

After Sunday’s storms spawned a tornado near Annawan, Illinois, another round of severe weather is set to sweep the Midwest, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley starting Monday afternoon. Repeated thunderstorms are expected to draw on high humidity, producing heavy rain that could total 2 to 3 inches from Chicago to Cleveland, with localized amounts of 3 to 5 inches in northern Indiana and Ohio. Power remains out for more than 1,000 customers in LaSalle County, while a wind gust of 73 mph was recorded west of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The NOAA Storm Prediction Center has issued a Level 2 severe thunderstorm risk covering a corridor from northern Illinois to eastern Pennsylvania, including major metro areas such as Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Scranton, with threats of large hail, damaging winds and an isolated tornado. The same corridor faces a Level 2 flash-flood risk beginning Monday evening, rising to Level 3 in Charleston, West Virginia and surrounding regions through Tuesday, and rain may continue into Thursday with some locations in West Virginia potentially seeing more than six inches by week’s end.